The Functions and Planning of Visitor Centres in Regional Tourism

The values of any specific society can be interpreted from the functions of the physical infrastructure it develops. Cultures which are sports oriented will support massive stadiums, those with spiritual concerns maintain great cathedrals, mosques and shrines, and those with environmental concerns create physical structures to celebrate and protect the places they value. In the world of tourism, it can be argued that visitor centres are a new multi-functional item expressing the values in physical infrastructure of societies trying to use and manage tourist attraction resources. Unlike hotels, highways and transport nodes, the visitor centre is typically purpose built or at least refurbished just for tourism (Knudson, Cable & Beck, 1999). There are numerous centres in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia and they appear to be emerging in many European and Asian destinations (Asia Travel Guide, 2004; Tan-Collis, 1999). Importantly visitor centres along highways and in smaller towns and communities are often a major focus for regional tourism promotion and management (Fesenmaier & Vogt, 1993a,b; Hobbin, 1999). This paper will direct attention to providing a framework for undertaking visitor centre function in regional tourism and further, attempt to outline some desirable practices to fulfil these functions.