{"id":6947,"date":"2020-06-16T01:30:36","date_gmt":"2020-06-16T01:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=6947"},"modified":"2020-06-16T01:30:36","modified_gmt":"2020-06-16T01:30:36","slug":"newcastle-visitor-economy-receives-a-boost-with-the-opening-of-a-new-visitor-information-centre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2020\/06\/16\/newcastle-visitor-economy-receives-a-boost-with-the-opening-of-a-new-visitor-information-centre\/","title":{"rendered":"Newcastle visitor economy receives a boost with the opening of a new Visitor Information Centre"},"content":{"rendered":"

City of Newcastle has\u00a0opened its new\u00a0Visitor\u00a0Information\u00a0Centre\u00a0(VIC),\u00a0offering\u00a0hands-on interactive experiences,\u00a0tourist\u00a0information and\u00a0unique souvenirs\u00a0for those\u00a0welcoming\u00a0friends and family\u00a0to the city.
\nHoused in the repurposed Civic Railway Station, the VIC\u00a0is\u00a0located in\u00a0the heart of Newcastle\u2019s emerging tourist\u00a0hub, nearby the under-construction five-star Kingsley Hotel\u00a0and a stone\u2019s\u00a0throw from the Civic Theatre, Civic Park, City Hall\u00a0and\u00a0Museum.
\n\"VIC-(2).JPG\"Deputy Lord Mayor Cr Declan Clausen and Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes inside the new Visitor Information Centre.<\/sup><\/strong>
\nNewcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said\u00a0the\u00a0VIC was\u00a0opening\u00a0just in time\u00a0to\u00a0welcome\u00a0visitors back to the city following\u00a0the lifting of many of the\u00a0COVID-19 travel restrictions.
\n\u201cThe June long weekend saw many travellers take advantage of the relaxed restrictions in what was the first opportunity to hit the open road in months,\u201d the Lord Mayor said.
\n\u201cThe establishment of the Visitor Information Centre is another very visible step in the maturity of our city as\u00a0a tourist destination.\u00a0Pre-COVID-19\u00a0figures showed\u00a0about five million tourists visit Newcastle each year,\u00a0which is a rise of about 60% over the past five years.\u00a0The value of the Newcastle tourism economy increased 57.6% to $1.127 billion in the 12 months to March 2019\u00a0alone.
\n\u201cAnd with\u00a0two\u00a0five-star\u00a0hotels now under\u00a0construction\u00a0and\u00a0Newcastle\u00a0Airport offering seasonal flights to New Zealand,\u00a0the\u00a0number\u00a0of\u00a0visitors\u00a0is set to surge even further.\u00a0More than 1.2 million passengers passed through the airport in the 2018-19 financial year.\u201d
\nCity of Newcastle\u2019s\u00a0new Visitor Information Centre will play a vital role in boosting the local tourism industry, which\u00a0has been\u00a0decimated by COVID-19, as appetite for travel grows stronger, particularly with the July school holidays just around the corner.
\n\u201cWe have already received an influx of enquiries from interested travellers whom we can\u2019t wait to welcome to our beautiful city.\u201d
\nFollowing\u00a0the\u00a0site\u2019s\u00a0exterior renovation by Hunter and Central Coast Development Corporation,\u00a0City of Newcastle\u00a0undertook\u00a0a full\u00a0fit-out of\u00a0the\u00a0new VIC, including\u00a0a hand-painted mural, incorporating a Welcome to Country in both Awabakal and Worimi languages,\u00a0and a map of Newcastle printed on the vinyl floor.
\nAs with all City of Newcastle\u00a0services and facilities reopening, public health is paramount, and there is a COVID Safe Plan in place for the\u00a0VIC\u2019s\u00a0operation\u00a0that, in conjunction with physical distancing and hand hygiene practices,\u00a0will\u00a0ensure everyone can enjoy this new community space.
\nThe Visitor Information Centre is conveniently located at the Civic light rail stop\u00a0at\u00a0430\u00a0Hunter Street and will initially operate from 9.30am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday, and\u00a010am\u00a0to 2pm on Saturdays. Sunday operation will commence as demand increases and restrictions further ease.\u00a0There are more than 300 parking spaces within a five-minute walk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

City of Newcastle has\u00a0opened its new\u00a0Visitor\u00a0Information\u00a0Centre\u00a0(VIC),\u00a0offering\u00a0hands-on interactive experiences,\u00a0tourist\u00a0information and\u00a0unique souvenirs\u00a0for those\u00a0welcoming\u00a0friends and family\u00a0to the city. Housed in the repurposed Civic Railway Station, the VIC\u00a0is\u00a0located in\u00a0the heart of Newcastle\u2019s emerging tourist\u00a0hub, nearby the under-construction five-star Kingsley Hotel\u00a0and a stone\u2019s\u00a0throw from the Civic Theatre, Civic Park, City Hall\u00a0and\u00a0Museum. Deputy Lord Mayor Cr Declan Clausen and Lord Mayor … Continue reading “Newcastle visitor economy receives a boost with the opening of a new Visitor Information Centre”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newcastle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6947\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}