By JO HARRISON
A SOPHISTICATED and modern interior will now greet visitors to the recently refurbishment Armidale Visitors Information Centre (VIC) providing a gateway to exploring the vast attractions of the New England region.
At the official opening last Thursday Armidale Dumaresq Council’s tourism and marketing manager Tony Broomfield spoke about the success of the collaborative marketing campaign with Uralla, Guyra and Walcha Councils.
The campaign, called Experience the Highs, designed to grow the experienced-based tourism market and attract a new demographic while still catering to established markets.
He also spoke about using new technologies to communicate with established markets and the success of the visitors guide book which has had 50,000 copies reprinted.
Armidale Dumaresq Council Mayor Jim Maher officially opened the refurbished centre before VIC co-ordinator Katrina George went on to thank the many volunteers that work hard each and every day in the centre or on the Heritage Bus Tour.
“I have about 30 volunteers who work and without them we wouldn’t be able to provide the service that we can at the moment,” Ms George said.
“The free Heritage Bus Tour just wouldn’t be possible without them so we should all be grateful for what they do for our community.”
Planning for the refurbishments began about six months ago with the actually work taking a relatively short seven weeks to complete.
New carpet, paint and furniture were necessary however the real strength of the centre lies in the visual experience that visitors will now receive once they enter.
“We have made it a very visually enticing and exciting centre to be in with big graphics and imagery to really excite the visitors when they are coming to visit us and explore the rest of the region,” Ms George said.
“We have ipads that people can use to explore using the Experience the Highs App and volunteers are still on hand to give people some local knowledge as well.”
Visitor information centre staff still play a significant role in informing visitors about a region something that technology will never totally replace, she said.
“Technology does not give you a story, it doesn’t tell you things, you need to find those things out yourself,” she said.
“If people want to know where are the best places to stay and eat, and what are the special things that only locals know then they will get that information from the people working in the centres.”
