The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Visitscotland to shut down visitor centres
Visitscotland will close its entire network of visitor centres including locations in tourism hotspots across Perthshire and Fife.
Centres will be shut in Pitlochry, Perth, St Andrews, Aberfoyle and Stirling – where tourists have been able to speak to local experts about attractions and places of interest.
The tourist body says the closures come in response to a change in the way people plan trips – and a 42% decline in footfall since 2019.
They say social media, Youtube and online travel websites are among the ways people now find and plan their holiday experiences.
All Visitscotland information centres – known as icentres – will operate as usual until the end of September as part of phased two-year closure programme.
It is not known if any staff are likely to be made redundant as part of the process.
Lord Thurso, Visitscotland chairman, 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.”
Perthshire-based MSP Murdo Fraser, who represents Mid Scotland and Fife, said: “These closures are very concerning, and will be a serious blow to staff in visitor centres.
“They come as a direct result of the SNP’S savage cuts to Visitscotland’s budget, and their wider failure to support the tourist sector, which makes a crucial contribution to Scotland’s economy.”
Asked about the closures by MSPS at Holyrood, First Minister Humza Yousaf echoed the reasoning provided by Visitscotland.
He said: “I fully accept that there will be some level of concern around the announcement.
“My expectation of Visitscotland... would be to engage with the communities based in these tourist destinations, to... reassure them about what is in place in order for people to seek information about those destinations even when information centres are closed.”