Tourism centre closure threat

The centre caters for 130,000 visitors per year

Tourism chiefs in Aberdeen are warning that the city's tourist information centre will have to close if a row over funding is not resolved.

Aberdeen and Grampian Tourist Board said it could no longer meet the running costs for its centre without additional financial support from Aberdeen City Council.

The council said the board had fallen behind on its occupancy payments, but would do everything to find a satisfactory solution.

Tourist board chief executive Alan Clarke said the centre would close at the end of March unless more funds were made available.

Alan Clarke: Funding gap

He said that, compared to other Scottish cities, Aberdeen provides the least amount of money per head of population for tourist services.

The Aberdeen information centre, which caters for 130,000 visitors per year and fields 80,000 telephone calls, employs 15 full and part-time staff.

Mr Clarke said: "The loss of a centre in what is Scotland's third largest city, is pretty fundamental for the infrastructure of tourism development in the north east.

"Marketing activity in the city of Aberdeen has suffered in the last few years in order to fund the city's TIC tourist information centre.

"I, and my team, have explored - jointly with the council - many ways to bridge the funding gap, but none of these options have come to fruition."

Support issue

According to the tourist board, Aberdeen City Council's cash support, at £0.69 per head of the population, is one of the lowest in Scotland.

It claims the Scottish average is £1.51; Dundee gives £2.20; Edinburgh £2.24 and Glasgow £2.63 per head of the population respectively.

Gordon McIntosh: Solution sought

Gordon McIntosh of Aberdeen City Council said they would do everything to find a satisfactory solution to the problem.

Mr McIntosh said: "The gun has been to some degree held to our heads - but that said we want to be as open minded as we possibly can and look for a way out of this."

The council said the tourist board had not paid its occupancy costs for St Nicholas House for the financial year 1999-2000 and owed more than £80,000.

The council said it was prepared to enter an arrangement with the tourist board for payment of the debts.

At its budget meeting last week, the council maintained its £150,000-a-year grant to the tourist board.

Council leader Len Ironside said the council was spending more than £4m on tourist-related activities.