12 June, 2014

James Place welcomes Adelaide’s new Visitor Information Centre

The Adelaide Visitor Information Centre will throw open its doors in James Place today, offering a modern and accessible new home for the service, which is supported by more than fifty City of Adelaide volunteers.

Volunteers will not only be providing helpful information to visitors, but from 10am will be handing out some of Adelaide’s iconic fare including Balfours frog cakes, Charlesworth Nuts, Haighs chocolates, Farmers Union Iced Coffee and some great fresh produce from the Adelaide Central Market.

Judy Uren has been a volunteer with the Visitor Information Centre for more than seven years and loves the opportunity to help people plan their stay in Adelaide and its regions.

“Our volunteers are a well-travelled bunch and so armed with a welcoming smile and great local and regional knowledge we happily look after the more than 180,000 visitors a year to the centre,” Judy said.

“We get millions of people passing through the Rundle Mall precinct every year, and now with the advent of footy in the city, we’re providing information to a whole new audience ahead of the game, especially on weekends.

“It’s great to see so many interstate fans wandering into the precinct wearing their footy guernseys and scarves and our new long term home in James Place will make that even easier to help them out.

“As a volunteer we get to give advice on how to get around town and some of the fun things you can do in the city before or after the game, and while I’m a Crows fan at heart, I make sure I look after all the fans, no matter what team they barrack for,” Judy said.

Acting Lord Mayor, Natasha Malani will be on deck at the Visitor Information Centre early in the day to welcome people visiting the new space.

“As well as recognising the wealth of information our volunteers possess and the different ways people can source information, we want to mark the opening with a bit of fun, so I’ll be down there to hand out some quintessentially South Australian products,” Natasha said.

“The centre is less than 50 metres down James Place from the intersection of Rundle Mall and we’ve installed new signage in the Mall and at the entrance to the laneway to make it easy to find.

“When you visit the centre, there’s lots of ways to find what you’re looking for”, she said.

“You can speak face to face with one of our volunteers, jump onto an online kiosk and browse at your leisure or pick up brochures and maps from our wide selection – we also have City Guides wandering around the Mall who have iPad technology at their fingertips,” Natasha said.

South Australian Tourism Commission Chief Executive Rodney Harrex said the new Visitor Information Centre would be a great resource for visitors to Adelaide and beyond.

“Tourism is a big industry and vital to South Australia’s economy, worth $5.1 billion. It is crucial for visitors to have a positive experience right from the start of their trip and I am extremely confident that the knowledgeable volunteers at the new centre will deliver that.

“Additionally, once visitors get out to South Australia’s regions, there are in-region Visitor Information Centres well equipped to help visitors make the most of their South Australian holiday,” Mr Harrex said.

David Hill