By Cheryl Jahn

New task force looks at VIC location

Jul 4, 2022 | 3:09 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – It is an ongoing issue. The location of Tourism Prince George’s Visitor Information Centre. The future home of the visitor information centre has been a discussion around Council Chambers for years. But most recently, there has been a new development around that question.

“It’s something we’ve identified internally as something we want to be evaluating,” explains Colin Carson, CEO of Tourism Prince George. “Obviously we’ve heard that message from City Council as well. That they’d like to see us moving in that direction. If this is the proper place. Our Board of Directors at our June Board meeting has struck a Visitor Information Centre task force.”

The Visitor Information Centre used to be located at the junction of Highways 16 and 97 and had been for decades. But it was moved to the First Avenue location in 2012. The task force will assess whether First Avenue is the best location for a visitor Information Centre or should they take a cue from Kamloops and eliminate the bricks-and-mortar centre for a nimbler mobile VIC.

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“That’s something we do right now with Tourism Prince George,” says Carson. “We just do it on a really small scale. We’ll go out to events on weekends and we’ll have a presence there, providing that visitor servicing at those events to people out of town. That’s something we’re going to continue doing no matter what.”

It’s a discussion and a move Mayor Lyn Hall says needs to happen

“There’s a couple of us around the table talking about Mr PG, talking about a new Tourist Information Centre for a number of years. I’m glad the task force is that.”

And he says that discussion has to happen with Mr PG as well.

“Ideally for me, Id like to see a new stand-alone information centre and I’d like to see Mr PG right there. For me, that would work.” While Tourism Prince George does have pop-up locations for special events and has a presence on social media,

Colin Carson says the brochures are remarkably popular.

“It’s definitely shifting a little bit and people aren’t relying on the Visitor Information Centre as much. But there’s definitely a place for that, especially in Northern BC when they’re going into some wilderness areas.”

Carson says the task force will likely take the year to come to some conclusions.