NOTEBOOK by BILL HEANEY
All tourist information centres run by VisitScotland are set to close over the next two years as visitors are being influenced to plan their trip before they leave home.
Mind you, some of them were pretty hopeless anyway.
I once asked them for information about hotels in or near Alloway in Ayrshire and they came back with the details of a hotel in Alloa, Clackmannanshire.
Disappointingly the person I spoke with had never heard of Alloway, which is the birthplace of Scotland’s national poet Robert Burns and his cottage is one of Scotland’s top tourist attractions.
I’m told the closure move “follows significant changes to the way people plan their holidays with most using online resources and travel specialists to research and book all aspects of their trips”.
This includes arranging accommodation and activities before they arrive at their destination. Good luck then to the tourists.
The excuse for shutting down the centres – there used to be one at Milton, which is now an Indian restaurant, is officially this:
“The way visitors access information is changing, and the sphere of influence has widened far beyond in-person and print media to include social media, influencer marketing, online inspiration and online booking.
With almost two thirds (64%) of international visitors to Scotland booking as part of a package, the role tour operators and travel agents can play in helping international visitors plan holidays to Scotland has also become increasingly important, say the spin doctors.
Certainly it will not have been through the cringe-worthy advertisement painted on the walls of the corridors in the terminal building at Glasgow Airport which lead from the flight arrivals entrance to the Border Force and Customs desks.
To adapt to this “welcome” shift in behaviour, VisitScotland says it will instead invest its resources and expertise in a digital-first strategy by “targeting channels” it knows visitors use.
This will inspire and influence where visitors go, when they come and what they do, including promoting lesser-known destinations [such as Rothesay?] and quieter times of year.
The new approach, Visit Scotland says, aims to help the national tourism organisation to deliver its core purpose to drive the visitor economy and grow its value to Scotland by reaching more people and influencing visitors from global markets.
The UK Government Minister for Scotland John Lamond described the move as a “blow to our towns” adding it “puts at a disadvantage the many thousands of tourists who use their services”.
[Believe me, there won’t be nearly as much of a rumpus about it as there is around the brown bins blunder in West Dunbartonshire. Anyway, Visit Scotland have never had an office in Dumbarton.]
UK Government Minister for Scotland John Lamont said: “The closure of all 25 VisitScotland tourist information centres across the country will be a blow to our towns and puts at a disadvantage the many thousands of tourists from the UK and beyond, who use their services.
“While online tourism is growing, it is not available to all and these centres from Lerwick to Langholm ensure vital information can be accessed by those tourists, particularly the elderly.”
[One would have thought the elderly would have more experience of travel than other groups and that many people would be seeking advice from them about where to go and what to do rather than searching the internet.]
He added: “I’d urge the Scottish Government to consider the impact this will have on local businesses and on visitors to areas where tourism is a huge part of the local economy.”
All VisitScotland information centres – now known mystifyingly as iCentres, which sounds like somewhere you go to have your computer fixed – will operate as usual until the end of September as part of a phased two-year closure programme.
VisitScotland is currently engaging with stakeholders to discuss local arrangements. Really? Has anyone with a sun tan and a kilt visited you recently to ask where you are going for your holidays?
Loch Lomond Highland Games at the Moss O’ Balloch. A record number of visitors turned out to watch the popular annual Loch Lomond Highland Games at Balloch. Picture by Bill Heaney
Lord Thurso, VisitScotland’s chair, said: “The tourism landscape has changed significantly in recent years. The demand for iCentres has reduced while the demand for online information and booking has continued to grow.
“In order to continue building demand and growing the value of tourism and events, it is vitally important that we target channels we know visitors use to influence them to visit Scotland.
“Our research shows that as an organisation, we have a greater and more impactful role to play in providing information before visitors travel.
“Prioritising a digital-first model of information provision allows us to reach potential visitors at those early planning stages when we can shape their future travel decisions.
“Together with businesses and our partners, we want to build on success and ensure that across all areas of our work – marketing, destination development, business advice, insights and events – we prioritise the activities that will deliver for our industry and for Scotland.
“By evolving our work in this way, we will be able to invest in the activities that will accelerate sustainable growth in the visitor economy, helping create jobs, sustain communities and attract investment for the future.”
Next thing we know they will be introducing remote holidays which means we can sit at our desks and saunter down to the sandy beaches of Barcelona and stroll down Las Ramblas after having accessed it on search mode.
Viva Visit Scotland. Rothesay no more. Dunoon no more. Trips doon the watter no more.
- Let’s hope this article does not end up with me being charged with a hate crime or being banished to Avizandum, one of my favourite holiday boltholes, for speaking to the spin doctors and councillors at West Dunbartonshire Council who are at the moment proudly upside Russia’s President Putin who has journalists locked up and wants all of them shut up. BH