Although born in Yorkshire, I spent most of my childhood on a sugar plantation in what was then the British colony of British Guiana, and is now Guyana. During those wonderful years, my parents befriended the owners of a large cocoa plantation on Tobago, some 350 miles away. We subsequently enjoyed our summer holidays in a wonderful little cottage that these friends had built on the beach, in Charlotteville. The cottage had no electricity or running water, but those holiday weeks were pure bliss.
After our family's eventual return to England, I enjoyed regular holidays in the Caribbean and visited a wide variety of islands. Although Tobago remained my first love, it offered neither the choice nor quality of accommodation that I enjoyed, so my visits were somewhat irregular initially. The laid-back ethos of the island meant that development was slow. By the late '80s, a number of luxury hotels had opened. The standards of accommodation and catering began to compare with other island and, best of all, without the pretensions and commercialisation of some. Tobago now had everything we wanted. Our visits started to become an annual pilgrimage.
In early 2000, following a stay at the Coco Reef Resort and long before the plethora of Internet review sites that now exist, I created a small website with a review of the hotel. The site included a discussion forum so that visitors returning from Tobago could keep other readers updated on the storm restoration work that was being undertaken at that time. I never anticipated the wide readership that the site attracted.
Two years later, we returned to the Coco Reef and updated the review site. Rather than restricting the site to information about a single Tobago hotel, we decided to spin the concept on its head and make it a site about Tobago, with reviews of hotels and other types of holiday accommodation.
myTobago is the ONLY comprehensive and honest guide to holiday accommodation on the island. We attempt to include information about EVERY form of holiday accommodation that we can trace. Listing is not optional - if an establishment is open for business, it will be listed.
The success of the site constantly spurs our efforts. Most of our research is conducted during an annual two-month winter pilgrimage to Tobago, reviewing hotels, guesthouses, apartments and villas. It's a hard life! Our efforts would be nothing, however, without the support of our ever-expanding list of 'expert' contacts. Without their support we could never hope to achieve the standards of expertise and accuracy to which we aspire.
I hope that the professional appearance of the site does not lead readers to question the nature of the project. It would take a psychiatrist to explain the motivation that leads me to put so much time and effort into myTobago, but the 'look and feel' is easily explained because I am a professional e-commerce consultant and website developer.
I have no problem in declaring that I do advise and act for a substantial number of client businesses on Tobago. Many of these are recommended; others are never even mentioned. I hasten to add that being a client DOES NOT influence the editorial views expressed on the site. Any client who attempts to exercise commercial or psychological pressure to gain an unfair advantage rapidly learns that there is no quicker way to be shown the door. Please remember that our opinions, and therefore the usefulness of this site, are only valid while the public agree with us. If we were to start recommending unworthy businesses, the project would be rapidly doomed to failure.
I am now a septuagenarian and in the fortunate position where I can provide this website, and all it entails, because I want to, rather than because I need to. The site is not a commercial exercise. It does not, and never has, made a profit. That's fine, because it is my way of saying thank you to all the wonderful people on Tobago who have given me such wonderful holidays there over the last 55+ years. I continue to work because I love what I do.
If this website has persuaded you to visit Tobago, or influenced your choice of accommodation, restaurants, tours, car hire or any other aspect of holiday-making on the island, please mention it to the business or service concerned whilst on Tobago. It is important that business owners and managers recognise the significance of the opinions and comment expressed on this website. Our Tobago forums are a very public way for visitors to air appreciation and voice grievance. The significance of the medium should not be underestimated. This is your chance to influence tourism on this beautiful island.
Enough said! Please read on and enjoy our efforts......