The Outer Hebrides tourism industry has slammed Visit Scotland’s closures of tourist information centres.
Just a single physical information source, yet to be decided in either Harris or Lewis, would then be left to serve the whole of the Outer Hebrides with no confirmed alternatives yet in place for ongoing dedicated information provision in the Southern Isles.
Outer Hebrides Tourism (OHT) has called for a rethink insisting VisitScotland’s idea of a single ‘hub’ not is the right solution for a 150 mile chain of distinct islands with unreliable mobile signal coverage.
In addition, the national agency’s “VIP” programme simply reflects what the industry has been doing for years to meet the needs of its own guests and customers and will not provide any increase in the availability of information or advice to visitors that could replace the services of existing VICs.
The closures are part of a strategy to cut 60% of VisitScotland information centres.
VisitScotland maintain they have suffered a 58% drop in footfall in the past 12 years, saying two out of three visitors now access information online.
However, the popularity of tourist offices with visitors to the Outer Hebrides endures.
Across the Uist, Harris and Lewis, numbers have increased modestly over the past three years, bucking the national declining trend.
This may reflect both the patchy mobile coverage for internet access and the popularity
of the islands amongst older visitors with a preference for face-
Ian Fordham, chairman of OHT, said “Visit Scotland’s proposed strategy for its visitor information centres does not mean we cannot have a thriving and attractive network of information centres across the Outer Hebrides, helping visitors understand our islands, its heritage, get the most from their stay and put something back into the local economy.
“These could be co-
Robert
McKinnon, OHT’s vice chair said Visit Scotland’s new direction will not meets the
needs of visitors nor tourism businesses across the Western Isles.
He said: “We are a network of small communities on individual islands, much of which still lack even the most rudimentary digital coverage. As a destination, we want to protect our proud track record of visitor satisfaction and providing a warm welcome.
“We are calling on Visit Scotland to join with the industry, CnES and other partners to develop an information network that best meets the needs of visitors to the Outer Hebrides for now and into the future.”
Tourism industry urges Visit Scotland to rethink information strategy
18 Oct 2017
Lochboisdale tourist information centre has already closed while offices in Barra and North Uist shut for good this month.