Do
Tourists still need Information Centres?
There was a time when no self-respecting tourist destination would
be without a Tourist Information Centre. Even the grottiest town
off the beaten track could muster a little desk within the local
library piled high with photocopied leaflets.
Now
the familiar i sign might just as well stand for the internet.
Well-equipped, networked TICs can’t be
taken for granted.
Over
the last few years in London there have been endless debates
about the need for more TICs. The former TIC
at Victoria Station
was franchised off along with others in an unhappy money-making
venture that never really flourished. Now the “icon” TIC
is the Britain and London Visitor Centre.
The
London Development Agency is currently considering the future
of London TICs. They have commissioned several pieces
of work:
an audit of London’s existing TICs and the services they
provide; a study of the information consumers need; and an analysis
of the flows of tourists across the capital to gain a better understanding
of their dynamics.
While
these studies are taking place, let’s take a look
at some other TIC options. I’m used to working on tight budgets
so forgive the shoe-string approach…
Several years ago in Stockholm I noticed a novel solution to the
problem of peak-time queues. TIC staff had been provided with bikes
with trailers stacked with maps and leaflets. They were scattered
around Stockholm in areas visitors tend to be. In bad weather they
are near the museums and in summer by the quay. They generally
had more time to talk than staff in the TIC itself.
This reminded me of my first job in marketing. I was a sandwich-board
woman for my sister’s low-budget art exhibition.
Imagine
lots of sandwich-board info staff across London bearing an “ask me about London” sign or perhaps more kindly,
just info staff wearing branded sweatshirts and ready to hand out
maps and leaflets and answer visitor’s questions. It would
immediately help to counteract any criticisms about unfriendly
Londoners and couldn’t be easier to establish.
Like
most tourism businesses I get inundated with student’s
requests for placements. How about a publicly-funded scheme that
helps visitors and gives tourism students real experience at the
sharp end? It would certainly beat photocopy placements. It would
be cheap to set up, with initial destination training for the students
and then off they go, perhaps with badges to indicate any foreign
languages they speak.
If
the funding bodies need to tick the “makes good use of
ICT” box on their application form, the info staff could
be equipped with PDAs to retrieve more detailed info from a central
source. They could even take bookings for theatre and attractions.
With 3G and wireless internet access it’s all possible now.
For
anyone sad about the demise of the familiar Routemaster red buses
I have another idea – an even more mobile TIC. Buy
a couple of old Routemasters (you can get them for under £5K
but need somewhere to park them at night) and fill them with leaflets
and friendly staff for a very distinctive, flexible info anywhere
it’s needed.
But
is the problem really lack of info? Aren’t visitors
bombarded with leaflets, web sites etc? Maybe what they really
need is help to find their way through it all, pick out what’s
right for them, be persuaded to try some new ideas, stay a little
longer, do more?
Why not change the name of TICs, ready for a new era? Perhaps
the time is right now for Tourist Inspiration Centres?
Want
more information on this topic?
The Tourism Management Institute hosted a Summer 2004 debate on
the subject of Customer Contact Services - you can find out more
about it on the TMI
website.
You
can find out about the EnglandNet project
by visiting their site.
You
can also find more information about TICs and their operation
thanks in various academic dissertations such as the one by Jane
Sherfield
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