Friday, October 13, 2017
About two-thirds of Scotland’s tourist information centres to close down despite record numbers of visitors flocking to the country.
The sites set for closure include tourist information offices at Edinburgh and Glasgow Airports, as well as traditional holiday centres such as Callander, Drumnadrochit and the Borders.
The official body, VisitScotland announced the move to close 39 of its 65 centres at the same time as ‘spectacular’ tourism figures has been reported by the overseas tourism. The organisation said the decision was in response to the popularity of digital services among visitors. The Office of National Statistics figures showed the number of international visitors jumped by 11 per cent in the year up to June 2017, with a 19 per cent rise in spending to more than £2bn.
For those who would be affected by the closure of the centres would be provided with redundancy packages or the chance of redeployment.
After consulting with the local tourism industry over the coming months, there will be further decision regarding the location of the regional hubs in Dumfries and Galloway, the Scottish Borders and the Outer Hebrides.
VisitScotland found that there has been major decline in the tourists’ number visiting their information centres which amount to about 58% drop in the footfall over the last decade. The 26 regional hubs will operate in locations of greatest visitor demand and offer information about attractions across wider regions, said VisitScotland. In place of the present information centres, there will be 1500 information partners” which will be made up of local businesses, such as bed and breakfasts, distilleries or local retailers.
Tags: Scotland, VisitScotland
