The Tobago House of Assembly (THA) has made contact with the family and relatives of Peter and Murium Greene.

With the assistance of the British High Commission, the Division of Tourism and Transportation made contact with family representatives in the United Kingdom and Canada who are making arrangements to travel to this country. The Division has committed to facilitate the family members in their visit to Tobago.

Deputy British High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago Geoff Patton also said that Murium who regained consciousness yesterday spoke to her adopted son in England. The trip will be sponsored by Tobago’s tourism officials, said Patton.

In the meantime, THA Chief Secretary Orville London and Secretary of Tourism and Transportation Oswald Williams visited the victims yesterday at the Mt Hope Hospital and gave a commitment of their continued support, the Tourism Division said.

The Tourism Division stressed yesterday that in recent months Tobago has experienced a decline in the incidence of crimes against visitors as well as a significant improvement in the detection rate which ’has resulted from the number of initiatives which have been instituted over the last year. These include increased joint patrols with the Police and Defence Force, increased surveillance at tourism hot spots and the upgrade of the advanced passenger manifest on the inter-island ferries’.

In fact, recent surveys of customer satisfaction conducted by the Research Unit of the Division of Tourism and Transportation have indicated that in excess of 90 per cent of guests feel safe in hotels, guesthouses, villas or apartments in 2007, and again in 2008, the Division said.

The Tourism Division condemned the attack on he Greenes in Bacolet last Saturday. Such heinous crimes cannot be allowed to take root in Tobago as they threaten the moral fabric of our island’s society. The Division maintains that it is determined to keep Tobago a safe place to live and to visit.

The Express spoke with several visitors yesterday in Tobago who said that while the crime committed against the Greenes was a horrific one, they will not be deterred from visiting Tobago as a tourist destination. Two visitors from Toronto said that they would continue to visit Tobago in the not too distant future.

’I feel that the whole world is now on a common stage and to me it is an issue we are all facing. I don’t think it is a deterrent to visit a beautiful country where the majority of people are people like the rest of us,’ Lu Lombardi from Toronto said.

Echoing the same sentiments, another visitor from Toronto said that Tobago was no different than other countries that face criminal activities.

’It happens everywhere you know. I think people travel all around the world and there are assaults. I believe we have to be careful of where we go...during the night,’ Deo Bodasing said.

Another tourist, who asked not to be identified, said while he thinks the whole incident is shocking he has been coming to Tobago for a long time and will continue to visit since he has family living on the island.