Although it's a small town with only 2,500 population, Upton upon Severn has a big heart, and puts on some of the most dramatic and widely known events every year.

The International Jazz Festival, held at the end of summer, draws bands from all over the world, and is on the same must-go list as the New Orleans event for aficionados.

In addition, some of the locals have formed a company which puts on firework displays all over the world, using laser equipment from the same company which supplies Jean Michel Jarre's renowned light shows.

To help with the annual display at Upton, the local fire brigade, which is made up of retained officers, gets the hoses out to make huge plumes of water so that the colourful and exciting laser lights can bounce off them.

With ten thousand people coming to see the Upton firework display alone, it's essential that the TIC can cope with the influx of visitors for this as well as the regular stream of travellers who want to visit this charming former river-port for its historical and scenic qualities.

Mike Booth, who manages the Tourist Information Centre at Malvern as well as Upton upon Severn, says, "With 105,000 visitors to Malvern and another 36,000 to Upton, it's essential that we have a system that is user-friendly and can deliver all the answers we need.

"While we had a relationship with CTV already, when we were about to upgrade we did a trawl of the other systems on the market to see which was the most suitable for our needs.

"We felt that although some of the other suppliers might have excellent systems for one or more parts of the IT requirement, CTV's Destination Management Suite seemed to integrate all the different aspects of tourist information in the most successful way.

"We have been proved right: the installation and training went very smoothly, probably because the training was carried out by Sally, who is as familiar with the TICs as she is with the computers. Now, we are looking forward to being able to manage our information much more efficiently.

"The CTV package will revolutionise the way we handle data, but in an evolutionary way.

"As we transfer from the manual method to the computer, our staff can see that the abstract concept is not frightening since they are in a familiar landscape.

"They can see how to manipulate the data to make it more meaningful to everyone, and they can see how the system will help them with the job."

Mike has obviously heard the downside to integrated computer management of tourism systems, but having spoken to many users, believes that it's often not the technology which is at fault but the users themselves.

If information is not added regularly or, as can happen, if work is done manually and then entered on to the computer at a later date, time is wasted.

Mike also believes strongly that the place for the computer is out on the counter where staff can get straight to the information without turning their backs on the customers.

"IT has got to be frontline," he says. "The knowledge and information have got to be right there for the frontline staff, otherwise it's a waste of time.

"Computers make us more efficient, and give us another facility to offer our customers.

"From any terminal in Malvern or Upton TICs, we can provide local information, get tickets, make travel or accommodation bookings, recommend routes for travellers to all parts of the country and supply brochures.

"Using VisitIT our staff can also work out the peaks and troughs of visitor throughput, so that we can forecast staffing requirements accurately, and with luck we will soon also have an EPOS system installed to help manage our stock levels.

"With this fully integrated Destination Management suite from CTV we can deal with most TIC operations.

"We are looking forward to a long partnership with CTV."