Vernon visitor information centre permanently closes

Apr 28, 2021 | 6:00 AM

Vernon’s former visitor information centre may be repurposed as a level three emergency operations centre.

Vernon Fire Rescue Services has been using part of the building on 39th Avenue as a temporary location.

“We have found this location works very well for an emergency operations centre. It can house the program 24/7 as far as the staff, and it also has flip-the-switch capability for a large activation,” Chief David Lind told council.

Some community organizations, like Vernon Winter Carnival, have expressed interest in the location.

Usage of the Vernon visitor information centre (VIC) has been in steady decline, dropping 58 per cent from 2006 to 2019. The trend is province wide, as people turn to technology to get the information they require.

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“Between 2010 and 2019, the Kamloops Visitor Centre experienced a 52 per cent decrease, Salmon Arm Visitor Centre a 48 per cent decrease and the Penticton Visitor Centre an 82 per cent decrease. Kamloops made the decision to permanently close their VIC in 2020, and moved to a mobile visitor servicing model only,” Kevin Poole Manager, Economic Development and Tourism, reported to council.

Only Kelowna, with a new VIC built on the waterfront, has seen increased activity.

“I think this is an issue of location. The two locations on the outskirts were well used. To me, moving this (VIC) downtown was just a dumb idea,” Coun. Scott Anderson said.

Tourism Vernon is planning pop-up visitor information kiosks from May through September, at popular tourism locations.

The Tourism Commission endorsed an interim approach to visitor servicing for 2021.

lnstead of spending approximately $200,000 toward visitor servicing through a contract service at the VlC, the commission allocated $25,000 to enhance digital visitor servicing and $30,000 for mobile visitor servicing.

To support recovery efforts, funds that were previously allocated towards visitor servicing were reallocated towards marketing initiatives.

Two of the four existing washrooms could be renovated for use by residents, once the City Centre Park is completed.

by Kevin Rothwell

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