Letters / People do not want this outcome

Most of us in Shetland (and very many tourists) will probably know that the tourist office here is scheduled to close in November this year, as part of the move from physical services to virtual.

As small business owners we are strongly against this, and I know a lot of others are too.

I have sent the below letter to our MSP Beatrice Wishart. I would implore anyone else who is able to and wants to try and save the tourist office to get in touch with her too.

Beatrice Wishart MSP
Shetland Parliamentary Office
171 Commercial St
LerwickZE1 0HX

10 August 2024 

Dear Beatrice Wishart,

Re: The closure of the Shetland Tourist Information Office 

I am writing to you as a small business owner and resident of Shetland who is extremely concerned about the closure of the Tourist Centre here and in other island locations including Kirkwall.  

Whilst things have moved forward to a more online based world, I and many others do not agree with there only being a virtual information service available to the large number of tourists that come to Shetland.  

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Firstly, we must remember that mobile phone signal/data availability in Lerwick is patchy at best and non-existent at worst, especially when there are a number of cruise ships visiting and everyone competing to get online. This can obviously hinder the access to an online service.  

I used to work in Mirrie Dancers chocolate shop when it was at the Market Cross, and I would very rarely get signal whilst walking along Commercial Street towards my car parked at the Fort.  

Secondly, we have a large proportion of older people visiting Shetland who would prefer not to or are unable to use technology such as smart phones.  

Thirdly, with regards to any claims that the tourist information centre is not used or viable to keep running, I have attached some information from VisitScotland’s website, and have summarised the key stats below: 

• • • The footfall for the Lerwick office has increased 30.2% for the year 23/24 on the previous year, with only four other offices having a larger increase. Three of those are island based offices (Bowmore, Kirkwall and Rothesay) with the fourth being Stirling.
    • The Lerwick office had a 51.9% increase on net income for the financial year ending 2024 based on the previous year which is the highest increase, as well as a 55.7% increase compared to pre COVID. All offices mentioned previously also had significant increases, as well as quite a few others.
    • In the financial year ending April 2024, only one office had a higher net income than Lerwick, and that was the Edinburgh one.
    • Only eight offices had the same amount of expenses or less than Lerwick, the other 17 offices were all higher.
    • There were only four other offices that had lower staffing costs than Lerwick. 

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The shop itself also sells souvenirs and crafts from local small businesses; in fact I have sent people there before when they are looking for something they sell.  

All we have to do is look at the comments on any social media post relating to the tourist office closure, and it’s very obvious that people (both residents and tourists) do not want this outcome.  

I would be more than happy to meet to discuss any way that the Tourist Centre can be saved. I look forward to hearing from you.  

Robin Jones
Owner of The Annex – Shetland

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