The over-reliance on technology is a worry

 WEBSITE COMMENTS

VisitScotland to close every information centre across Scotland

Disgraceful. These centres provide wonderful help and support for Scots visiting different areas of their own country. On moving to Perthshire it was the information centre in Perth which provided me with maps of towns, walking guides etc, all free of charge. The local knowledge of the staff was invaluable – how do you replace that? This over-reliance on technology is worrying.

Helen Adair

VisitScotland say they are going to target YouTube and TikTok. Not sure how successful that will be for older travellers who tend to use Facebook and Twitter more. Anyway, already stopped reading their posts as they tend to advertise the high end of tourism. Isabel Newlands

During the tourist season Portree iCentre (like many others across the country) is inundated with tourists looking for accommodation – mostly because they don’t know that accommodation here has to be booked well in advance, or they do not have access to the internet. Just the other day they had two young visitors from the Netherlands looking for somewhere to stay that night. If the iCentre had been shut, where would they have gone?

Is VisitScotland really trying to tell people that “Scotland is shut” – unless you’ve got access to the internet, that is?

Meg Anderson

A petition to challenge this decision is required methinks. These information centres are a fantastic helpful resource when visiting a new place in Scotland. VisitScotland are clearly taking a leaf out of the banks’ disgraceful closure programme.

Let’s say “no way” to this ridiculous decision and keep Scotland’s iCentres open to fully support our tourist industry. Keith Fraser

VisitScotland closed their Dundee information point and I and many other city centre residents find myself several times a week providing directions to various attractions, and pointing out the quickest way to hotels, bus stations and taxi ranks.

They closed in September, just when many of our visitors are senior citizens. VisitScotland has always been substandard but they have gone even further downhill.

Sheena Wellington

Same thing is happening here in Wales. The internet has changed everything. What’s the point of these places when you can get all the information on your phone or iPad at a touch of a button?

Dr B Griffiths

Is an iCentre something special or is it just a rename of what I think of as a tourist office? I hope it is, since closing all tourist offices would make Scotland a laughing stock in the tourism world.

Joan Edington