The theory that Tobago's Tourism Industry is going through a disastrous period is probably an understatement.
I took a trip with Island Girl about 18 years ago when I first visited Tobago (as a tourist) and stayed in a resort. Every single person on the trip was from a Resort and I recall it well because of this amazing American that was picked up from Coco Resort with his family ... he wore a toupee and I spent the whole day in complete and utter wonder as to how this thing didn't come off as he snorkeled around at our various stops along the Carribbean coastline ... may be it wasn't a Toupee, it could have been the Rum Punch
Perhaps it was a comb-over ... hmmm ... no, surely comb-overs were banned years ago, surely
Anyway, leaving my indiscretions to one side, to the best of my knowledge Island Girl only seemed to get business from the Resorts (which is why I benefited from their excellent service) and, possibly, from other personal recommendations, journals and internet searches. I have never since been approached by anyone offering trips on Island Girl and, yet, I have seen the catamaran in Castara Bay very regularly and as recently as December/January 2016/17.
My point is ... Tobago's Tourism Industry is shot and will take some time to recover, if at all. But it is the resorts that are hit the worst ... in the middle of the last high season 2016/17 ... for example, from what I have seen:-
- Rex Turtle ... empty and looking run down ... no one on the beach.
- Grand Courland - very empty, no one on the beach ... in fact, while I was on a trip with Brian (Ali-Ba-Ba) we passed Grand Courland Beach and we saw someone on the beach and, with my well known dry sense of humour, I shouted, ' look, there's a tourist' , some on the boat laughed, some didn't ... it seemed like I had made a sick joke. I visited the Waves Restaurant twice in addition, no one was there ... just me.
- Magdalena ... Few in the restaurants, generally inactive.
- Blue Waters ... less than 50% capacity but at least there were some life forms.
- Coco Reef ... looking from the outside, the Beach was poorly populated.
- Castara ... better, but you could eat anywhere, none of the eateries were full ... 10 years ago you had to get your glad rags on and get to the table before sunset ... or starve!
Charlottesville ... a disaster, mainly due to the building works.
Pigeon Point ... more like Pigeon Pointless. Only Trini weekenders.
I could reel off many more examples but, in my humble opinion, the demise of Island Girl is more or less in line with the demise of the Resorts in Tobago. Non-resort business is still very much alive (as in Castara) and only thanks to some of the local Tobago businesses, but even this is reducing.
I booked my flights for next December/January 2017/18 while I was in Castara due to the fact that (I can't remember why) there were about 40 seats allocated to Tobago (the rest to Barbados) ... I would not be surprised to receive notice of their cancellation.
In a selfish way, I am not complaining because I have been concerned that tourism in Tobago could ruin Tobago ... but ironically, tourism (the lack of) could still ruin Tobago.
I wonder how that Sandals Resort development is going ?!?
Regards