Is the Visitor Center Dead? Scotland and LA Have Opposing Answers in the Mobile Era
Photo Credit: VisitScotland tried out a pop-up, pictured here, in London last week, to show-off its Instagram images. VisitScotland
Skift Take
Destinations with visitor centers are adjusting their strategies to ensure their locations are being effectively utilized. The concept of a mobile or pop-up visitor center is also becoming more common, and is certainly a trend to watch in 2018.
Visitor centers were, for decades, one of the first stops many travelers made when they first got to a place.
But with the growth of smartphones and mobile devices – essentially providing much of the same information a brick and mortar visitor center would have – some tourism boards feel that visitor centers have been rendered obsolete.
VisitScotland, for example, last month said that it will close 39 visitor centers, or two-thirds of its facilities, in the next two years. That would leave 26 "high-impact regional hub" visitor centers across the country, said Barbara Clark, a spokeswoman for VisitScotland.
Clark said foot traffic to VisitScotland visitor centers has fallen 58 percent over the past 10 years. Along with closing visitor centers, the tourism board is also launching an effort to dispense information about local tourism businesses and attractions, and deploying four mobile visitor-center vans across Scotland.
VisitScotland said its data show two-thirds of vis
