18 Jun EXTRAVAGANT TOURS LAUNCHES AT NCJ 2025
CAROL QUASH, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO NEWSDAY JUNE 18, 2025
THIS year’s edition of North Coast Jazz came off, as usual, with great reviews. But there was a separate element – Spirit of the North Coast tour – that got rave reviews of its own.
On May 31 Garfield George and his wife Patricia Jemmerson-George launched their tour company, Extravagant Tours, taking scores of jazz enthusiasts from the meeting place at Queen’s Hall carpark to the Blanchisseuse Recreation Ground, in three comfortable 25-seater maxi coaches.
George said he had asked the jazz event organiser, John Gill, about the possibility of using it to launch and promote Extravagant Tours.
“He said, ‘If you want to do it, fine, no problem.’ I told my wife and we just ran with it.”
Once the arrangement was confirmed, they travelled the route approximately five times within a month just to make sure everything was in order.
The couple offered their guests three packages from which to choose – Park and Ride, Jazz Access Express, and The Ultimate Jazz Tour – all including breakfast, secure parking, comfortable air-conditioned transport to and from the event, and a guided tour on the way to Blanchisseuse.
“The first was for those who had already purchased their tickets for the jazz event outside of Extravagant Tours; the second tier was for those who wanted to purchase tickets through us, with the same experience; and with the third tier they received the same service, but on arrival at the event there was a special area for them, a light buffet lunch, and a bar which was supposed to open from five to nine, but went from four to ten, with concierge services.”
Despite the tiers, though, the Georges say all their guests were treated with the same warm and welcoming respect, no matter who they were.
The tour buses also carried well-stocked first aid kits as well as ample supplies of thing like toiletries and sanitary napkins.
“My wife is very particular about these things, George said, and they were prepared for a variety of “what ifs.”
“For example, some people may get motion sickness, so we had things like gravol and sick bags; we had things for insect bites and any other minor emergencies.”
Before boarding the maxis, guests were required to fill out forms with some personal information the Georges deemed important.
“At first there was resistance to filling out the forms, which we explained to them was an important part of the service.
“When you’re serving people food, for example, you need to know it they have allergies of any kind.”
Eventually, they crossed that hurdle, but came to another when it was time to stop at a pre-arranged rest stop on the way – Maracas Bay View Guest House – where they were able to use the washrooms and take photos.
“Some of them didn’t want to stop, but after they got the full experience, they all said, ‘you know this was great.’ They just expected a drop to the venue, but we reiterated that we don’t do a shuttle service. This was really the launch of the possibilities of the experience you can get on a tour.”
The couple each went on separate buses, while another member of the team, Joseph Adams, manned the third bus.
“There was commentary about the villages we were passing through. We talked about things like the Cedula of Population and how that came about, the First Peoples etc…It wasn’t about burdening people with information because it was not like a classroom. We just gave information without overwhelming our guests,” Jemmerson-George said.
And they made it very interactive and engaging by giving out prizes sourced from local entrepreneurs.
“That was our opportunity to promote local entrepreneurs who partner with as well,” George explained.
George is the general manager at Queen’s Hall and Jemmerson-George is a quantity surveyor. They told Newsday although Extravagant Tours has its genesis in a tour guides course they did together at the College of Science Technology and the Applied Arts (Costaatt), neither of them had any intention, at the time, of starting a legitimate company.
“Part of the programme in the Costaatt course was to create your own tour company, and we called ours PG Island Tours. I subsequently registered it,” George said. The name change came about after the infamous meeting involving police officer Terrance and his family back in 2024, which spawned a number of memes, videos and even a couple of songs.
“When Terrance’s father-in-law declared, ‘That’s extravagant news,’ when told that his son-in-law was going to be a father, the name just stuck with us,” Jemmerson-George chuckled uncontrollably.
The couple recalled going on tours, locally and abroad, and finding them lacking.
“We had our own challenges with some of these tour companies, whether it’s with communication or accommodation. And we’re not saying you have to spend a lot of money to get better service; we just felt there are some things that we could do better; improve on what we would have experienced as tourists, especially with regards to the educational part of it…You know talking about the historical facts of the places we visit, giving fun facts about certain things.”
They remember going on a “tour” to Mermaid Pool and just being picked up and dropped off.
“There was so much flora and fauna on the way, and no information on that. No information on Mermaid Pool, not even how it got its name. It’s almost like we went on an excursion rather than a tour. There were gaps to be filled.
“So when we say ‘extravagant’, it’s not about limitless spending; it’s limitless in terms of experience,” George explained.
In time, Extravagant Tours will expand its reach to include regional and international tours.
“In our our business plan, the intent was by the second year, to do regional tours and by the third year to go international,” with the same core values and approach as local tours.
“It’s not, for example, just a trip to Panama to shop and party. We want to make sure we do our research on the people and the culture, and we can connect with our guests. That’s the difference we want to make…
“We want to make sure the whole process is seamless and safe, and that you return rejuvenated and educated.”
Because the company is still in its embryonic stage, the couple and Adams carried the bulk of the work on the inaugural tour, but there were other experience coordinators on hand to assist guests. George, the CEO, is responsible for the finance, public relations and website management. Jemmerson-George is the director responsible for guest experience and training staff, while Adams takes care of logistics and operations.
“I did an adobe illustrator online course, so the company’s logo, website and other artwork is done in-house for now….It’s a lot of work.”
The company has a physical office in St Joseph where customers can meet with real people and have in-person conversations about the tours. For in as much as it is important to have an online presence in any type of business, the Georges believe having face-to-face engagements with their customers is just as important. They recall paying for an international tour one time, and having to show up at the airport in “faith” because they had not been provided with all the necessary documents – a mistake they vow never to make with their own customers.
“I don’t want to have to park at the side of the streets or at the back of some building where my vehicle is not safe; or to be dropped off somewhere and told ‘meet back here at so and so time’ and be left to figure things out on my own; or have to wonder if I will get a response to an email. And that’s not what we want for our tourists.
“We shouldn’t limit ourselves to what we usually get. We’ve found that when we are abroad we expect more, but in Trinidad we expect less. At our inaugural tour everybody was blown away with what they received, but we think that is what people should expect on a tour.”
Extravagant Tours already has a number of future tours planned, with an itinerary for each on its website
“We’re looking at between July and August, which is the school holiday period, to have a set amount of tours, and then from September every week we want to have a couple of tours,” George said, adding that they will be adding different elements to make them interesting.
“Normal people can be extravagant too… I mean, it’s not that it’s going to be extravagant money. Our tours are going to be well presented, so what you’re paying for is quality.”
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