Town Council installs ‘digital tourist information points’

Ross-on-Wye Town Council have installed new ‘digital tourist information points’ in the town. One can be found near the Market House outside Coffee#1 and the other will be wall mounted at Ross Library. The information point near the Market House has replaced the map that had been in the position for many years.

The Town Council issued the below press release:

Thanks to a generous grant from the Great Places to Visit Fund, provided by Central Government through Herefordshire Council, Ross-on-Wye Town Council has installed its first digital tourist information point in the centre of the town at the Market Place which will provide a Tourist Information Service displaying details of businesses, services and activities available in and around the town. The project also includes the installation of a wall mounted digital screen outside Ross Library on Cantilupe Road which is planned to take place in the coming week.

The project – instigated as part of the Ross-on-Wye Economic Plan focusing on five emerging themes of Employment, Civic Amenities, Tourism, Tourism infrastructure and Town Retail – was originally discussed in 2020 at the Town Council’s Community, Markets & Tourism Sub-Committee meeting during the pandemic. It was agreed that the digital tourist information point would act as a source of valuable information due to the tourism information centres being closed at the time. The cost of installing the two digital screens is £20,694 including the groundworks, power supply and broadband connection and this has all been paid for by the central government grant and services provided by Fibre Heroes, Western Power Distribution and Air Broadband.

The project has been a huge logistical challenge due to co-ordinating the multiple organisations and providers involved. The screen content is ready to launch and the last element of the installation is in progress which involves finalising the broadband supplier agreement. The Town Council is currently looking at relocating the previous static notice board which was located in the Market Place.

Mayor, Cllr Ed O’Driscoll: “I am delighted to see Ross-on-Wye’s first digital tourist information point finally in place. We’re leading the way in Herefordshire developing vitally important tourism infrastructure. Maximising tourism is key to the survival of market towns so the visitor experience is critical. We need to make as much information available as we can to ensure our businesses and retailers have the exposure they need. They must be successful if our town is going to thrive.  On behalf of Ross Town Council and all my fellow councillors I’d like to extend my thanks to Fibre Heroes, Western Power Distribution and Air Broadband for their support and extremely generous contributions to this initiative. I’d also like to personally thank the team at the Town Council for their great work over the last two years that’s enabled us to make this happen.”

Digital touchscreens are becoming increasingly popular with many towns and tourist attractions across the UK, especially where organisations and councils are faced with limited budgets to fund physically staffed Tourist Information Centres. Information on the screens can be updated remotely and kept up to date which provides a significant advantage over static notice boards.

There are currently three Tourist Information Centres in Ross, located at the town council offices at The Corn Exchange, at the Made in Ross gallery and at Truffles Delicatessen on the High Street. Opening hours vary at each location so a 24/7 digital tourist information point will provide a vital source of information for visitors to the town outside of these hours. The content will be based on the Visit Ross-on-Wye Tourism Association’s website – visitrossonwye.com – and will include details of places to stay, eat, drink and activities in the area as well as the newly commissioned illustrated town map.

About the Great Places to Visit Fund:The Great Places to Visit (GPV) initiative is funded by the Central Government’s Recovery Fund from The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). The purpose of the GPV funding was to support the re-opening of high streets safely following the lockdown as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak. It was to assist businesses generally by increasing public confidence and safety in town centres to shop and visit. The GPV funding has been allocated to five town centres located across Herefordshire county. Each town centre received up to £90k to support project activities that support the general aims of the funding.