Aberdeen iCentre set to reopen for tourists next month
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VisitScotland has announced its plan for the reopening of its 26 iCentres following a four-month closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The iCentres, which initially will only be offering an information service, are opening in phases with the centres in Edinburgh, Aviemore, Balloch, Aberfoyle and Jedburgh having reopened this week.
The premises in Oban, St Andrews, Pitlochry, Portree and Ullapool will reopen this coming week, however the Aberdeen iCentre will not reopen until one of the later phases in August - no exact date has been released yet.
The phased approach is due to the team at VisitScotland having to make internal changes to every one of the 26 iCentres to ensure that they are adapted for physical distancing, but also to continue to give visitors a warm welcome.
There will be a range of safety features installed including Perspex screens, hand sanitisers and signage to ensure physical distancing with some dates possible to change on the dependence of materials and suppliers.
VisitScotland hope that it will not be too long before their iCentres can once again offer ticketing, accommodation booking and retail as soon as safe to do so.
Head of information at VisitScotland Manuela Calchini said: “Our iCentre staff have been working to get the centres reopened and are looking forward to being able to help visitors with face to face enquiries for the first time in four months.
"The information services never really closed however, and I’d like to pay tribute to the team for all its hard work in getting to this point.
“Our iCentres are a significant part of the community and we understand that there will be a desire to open them as soon as possible – we share that desire and want to support the tourism industry and communities as we come out of lockdown, however the safety of our staff and visitors is paramount.”
