When Victoria’s Wodonga Council announced last month that it was to close its ‘bricks-and-mortar’ visitor information centre in favour of a cheaper digital alternative, the decision was greeted with howls of anguish from grey nomads.
Most said they were the first port of call when they pulled up in a new town with their caravan or motorhome, and they said they loved the human interaction.
“We love the walk-in, humanised visitor information centres,” said grey nomad, Kevin Pearce. “The people there, who are often volunteers, are usually excellent at providing the human touch and information one would otherwise not be in a position to receive.”
However, rather than re-thinking its approach, Wodonga seems to have hardened its position.
At a meeting of the city’s ratepayers’ association this week, the Border Mail newspaper reported that councillor Tim Quilty dismissed traditional tourist information centres as destined to “become a thing of the past”.
And he insisted that other places would soon follow Wodonga’s lead in closing theirs down.
“We might be the first city that does it and that might be a short-term cost to us as the first mover, but 10 years down the track I think you’re going to see it happen a lot more,” Cr Quilty said. “I think most people in this room will be alive to see visitor centres become a thing of the past.”
He said that $30,000-$50,000 would be saved in the first year of having electronic tourism terminals instead.
Cr Quilty said the new tourism terminals could not be outside “because of the weather”, so there was an opportunity for them to be put them into private shops.
However, ratepayers’ group president, Ian Deegan, argued that the outlay on a visitor centre would easily be repaid in tourists’ spending, and Wodonga Senior Citizens Centre member Pauline Coulthard said it was grey nomads who would lose.
“They want that personal touch where they can come into the information centre, have a coffee, talk to us and we will show you with pride what we feel about this area that we live in,” Mrs Coulthard said. “Talk to a machine and press buttons, it’s nothing.”
* Do you think visitor information centres are destined to be replaced by digital information terminals? Comment below.
That is so sad. What are they going to spend that amount of money on, another trip overseas to work out why tourism isn’t working in their area. I was in this centre last week and the ladies there were a hoot. We all had a good laugh, and they were so informative of the surrounding areas. Gee another example of how humans are going to forget how to actually speak to each other in the very near future.
Well said Sharon. We grey nomads are very social beings and grew up in a society where we talked to everyone everywhere. (Not only GM,s but all people our generation) and that is how you get a feel for a new place. We have found all people in visitors centres very helpful, friendly, happy and generous. So we get to enjoy all that the town/city has to offer and even some hidden gems that inky they know about. If you have to rely on a machine well you will miss the good bits, not get enough information, and leave. Other than that if you go into one shop to ask questions you might get the completely wrong impression of the place a d then leave. Either way the town/city misses out! Keep the V.I.C, please!
Another thing, what about the joy and satisfaction earned by the volunteers who work in these centres? They are mostly retired and have no other interests, they need the interaction with others to keep them happy and healthy. I see it here where I work in an information centre.
All I can say is that come the next local election certain councilors are kicked out
Councils should spend the money that they save on the closed centres on free/low cost camps to attract grey nomads to stay in town.
Lousy decision Wodonga Council. The local knowlege and friendly welcome by people at info centres is often the first experience of a town and gives feeling for the soul of a place and leads to further spending in the town. No soul there. Accountants rule forever. A drive thru site?
If we cannot talk to somebody in Wodonga about Wodonga then what is the point of visiting Wodonga if the people of Wodonga have on intrest in speaking to the traveling population of this country.