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WINTER 1999

HASTINGS FOR EXCELLENCE


As the 1999 Winner of the national England for Excellence awards, Hastings Tourist Information Centre is a lively, go-ahead place, open seven days a week all year round, with staff well used to advising the 220,000 visitors who call in at the main centre each year for information on where to go for their historical or cultural experiences.

Marilyn Wrench, who has been manager of the tourist information team for the past nine years, says: "With nearly a quarter of a million visitors each year, our hardware and software have to be up to scratch to cope with the demands we make on them."

"If we had to do our accommodation bookings by hand, for example, it would be far too time-consuming and so we are completely reliant on the systems we have from CTV.

"We use TIM for all accommodation, activities and events bookings; we have the AA Milemaster itinerary planning service; the National Express reservation booking system and British Rail timetables. We find the route planner and accessing information on all the attractions in the area invaluable.

"While we have PAT (Public Access Terminal) at the 'Old Town' TIC, as we expand and take up more room in the main TIC in the town hall itself, we may be able to have a second PAT system.

"Having seen the latest developments, we are very excited by the new PAT with all the extra facilities it offers."

"In addition, we have just visited the Royal Windsor Information Centre to see how their CTV EPOS system is used to access tills, maintain stock control, and simultaneously tap into any of the other systems.

"We feel this would greatly reduce our present time-consuming paper exercise of stock control.

"I believe our main tourist centre in Hastings is quite unique in the tourism management world: not only does it fulfil all the normal duties for visitors to the historic town, but it also acts as a front for the local council in issuing bus passes and parking permits, and allowing local residents to view planning documents."

Once inside the centre, of course, locals soon realised that the systems could be used to book their tickets for local activities and events, and to plan their trips and book accommodation in other parts of the UK.

Because of this dual role, Marilyn feels that the IT side of the operation is very important.

"We have a second TIC in the old town that is linked to our main TIC system. This site is just opposite the main coach park, so people just pile off the coaches and come straight in for information.

"At the new centre, we use Queue Management Systems which allow visitors to take a ticket on arrival. They can then browse in the self-service literature racking until their number is called and they go to the relevant work-station.

"On the whole, they don't mind waiting as the literature helps them with their questions or gives them other ideas about what to do and see while they're in the area."

The main Hastings TIC is prominent in the town centre at Queens Square, next to the £40 million shopping centre and adjacent to the train and 'bus stations.

It's located in a listed building which dates back to 1880: a beautiful building with leaded windows which has been carefully converted to retain all its charm while also providing a very suitable and convenient base for tourism management.

However, Marilyn wants to lead her team to even greater heights. She says, "Our centre will be bigger and better next year, particularly since the English Tourism Council has now awarded us this accolade.

"We have all put heart and soul into it, since we opened in May 1998 and with the support of our chief officers and even more IT, Hastings can be a centre to be proud of."

This is the second year running that CTV has computerised the TIC of the year

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