They’ve been based in Paradise for 19 years but for many of the city’s tour guides their extended “holiday” is over – they’ve just closed the doors on their lives spent telling visitors where to go.
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Volunteers Kim Swab, Kay Reid and Joan Crosling had the last shift at the visitor information centre at the Paradise end of Peel St yesterday. It’s been home to visitor and tourism services for Tamworth since opening on November 30, 1995.
Once a controversial building, the $1.97million centre with its distinctive guitar-shaped roof and centre design attracted plenty of scorn and criticism back in the day. It makes way for country music museum type activities from now on.
In fact, the visitor services centre moves from one great guitar to the Big Golden Guitar – out to the Longyard and a private/public partnership deal with the city’s greatest tourism icon and retail centre.
The next few days will be spent moving the tourist racks and brochures, the telephone and computer systems to a new council space in the Golden Guitar centre on Goonoo Goonoo Rd.
And the new visitor info centre will open quietly and without too much yeehar noises on Monday, although a slap-up opening is planned for later this year.
The exodus also sees the once huge volunteer army of 70, now back to about 40, further reduced. Most are not making the trek and the new centre, in a reduced space, will operate, according to council economic and destination development chief Craig Dunstan, with some staff initially and about 20 volunteers.
“They’re a mix of younger and older but we are still keen to have more people sign up,” Mr Dunstan said.
“It’s such a nice new space out there, lots of natural light and it’s inviting. It fills me with a great sense that we are going to the right location.”
Mr Dunstan said it would enable the VIC to concentrate on the core services of visitor information but the fact nearby commercial operations provided restaurant, fast food, accommodation and other hospitality services would add extra value to the enterprise.
He said the challenges presented by parking, including constraints in caravan and other large off-street vehicle spaces would be addressed with additional spaces being provided initially in nearby areas, including the Longyard Hotel carpark and other undeveloped lots around there.
SEE SATURDAY’s NDL: A look behind the scenes at our tourism guiding lights and the visitor experience in Tamworth.