TI closing permanently

The official line is that the closures are due to decreased traffic at the TIs and increased usage of online resources for travel.

VisitScotland chairman Lord Thurso said research had shown it had a
"more impactful" role to play in providing information before people
travel.

He 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."

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-68675056

I think that is happening all over. Long gone are the days when you would first head to the TIC for information, a map and possibly a hotel. It's sad, but time marches on...

TIs in England shut a long time ago and many websites don't have an email contact either and phones are often not answered. I'm surprised they have survived in Scotland for so long. It is a great shame as they do still provide an important service.

Instinctively feel they should stay open but when I think about it the last 3 I was in ,I was the only customer.

Now that people book hotels on the internet, and that people just use their electronic devices for maps their core functions have gone.
Only yesterday in Clackmannanshire someone actually commented to me on how rare it was to see someone using a paper map.

In my experience the surviving TI's have become little more than glorified overpriced shops, and it is a long time since any TI in Scotland has done anything to provide information about local public transport. They have very successfully sold the car is good, public transport is bad message.
Utterly deaf to sustainable tourism.
Yes they will sell you bus tours, as that makes money for them.

I can't remember the last time I went into a TI in Scotland and came out with anything useful. Leaflets on attractions you can get in lots of other places now.

Stuart, I thought that I was the only one still using paper maps! Thanks for letting me know that I'm not alone!

Mike (Auchterless)

I still use paper maps too!

Also as a B&B our local TIC in Portree is an invaluable source of leaflets and free maps of Skye that I can use to inform my guests. Not sure where I will be able to source those resources when the TI closes. :(

I plan on line and always carry paper maps in the car and in a town or city. I have a massive collection of Pop-Up maps which are very easy to use.

I always visit the TI whatever town I am visiting. To me the most valuable information is being able to talk to a local. You just can not replace that with online information in my opinion. I will miss them.

I can't remember the last time I went into a TI in Scotland and came out with anything useful.

I went to the TIC in Regensburg, Germany that not only had lots of maps and information, but also ran a few short and inexpensive tours of the old town hall that was pretty fascinating. I always like going in them, even if it's just to look at their maps and gift shop items. The TIC at the Amsterdam train station has loads of great shopping opps! I bought several things there. And I know there are some TIs in Scotland that have gift items for sale (but maybe that's in the larger cities).

I was in Castle Douglas (Dumfries and Galloway) the week before last, where the Visit Scotland centre was closed many a long moon ago- before the pandemic I think. It has been empty ever since.

But has now been re-opened under local control as the Heart of Galloway Visitor Centre- and has a cafe inside,

It is to promote the town as 'Galloway's food town' and the Galloway Tourist Route (driving route), as well as the much neglected D and G area generally.

Quite a surprise.

The GTR is a 92 mile route from Gretna to Ayr, so very different from the SWC 300 (South West Coastal 300) through some beautiful scenery. Much to recommend it rather than just going up the M74 from England to Glasgow.

Not sure where I will be able to source those resources when the TI closes. :(

From the tourist attractions that supplied them to the TIs?

Camborne2018. As a busy B&B who used to use our local TIC to obtain stocks of free TIC published maps of Skye to give to tourists there will be nowhere to obtain these once the TICs close. And as for all the leaflets, which B&B has time to drive around all the visitor attractions and get copies of their leaflets? When we have more time (winter) the attractions are often closed, they are spread out across the island and it would take ages (and much fuel) to drive around to collect leaflets. Many visitors do of course plan their trips online, but still get here and need help to plan their days and the maps and leaflets were invaluable for that.