LAKEPORT >> The visitor information center in Lucerne will close permanently at 5 p.m. Friday.
Tuesday, the Lake County Board of Supervisors (BOS) approved the closure with a 4-1 vote. District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing was the dissenting vote.
The center, which is located at 6110 Highway 20, has been operating for 11 years as a location for tourists to get information about the county.
The closure was prompted after the county”s Tourism Advisory Board analyzed Lake County”s marketing priorities during a workshop held in January. Facilitated by John Poimioroo and attended by representatives from the tourism industry, business community, wine industry and the county Chamber of Commerce, the group determined 8.5 percent of the county”s marketing budget should be spent on visitor services. However, it costs the county $174,681, or 46.5 percent of the budget, to operate the Lucerne location.
The visitor center was experiencing a decline in the number of people it served, while there has been an increase in the number of people using the county”s online resources.
The Lake County Library began providing services generated from the county”s tourism website, such as fielding telephone calls and answering emails,
In August 2010, the Lucerne center saw 854 walk-in visitors, but in August 2013, 646 people visited the center, according to an executive summary by Administrative Officer Matt Perry and delivered to the Board of Supervisors (BOS) in April. Similarly, in July of this year, only 562 walk-ins were recorded.
Visits to the county”s visitor information website were 25 percent higher in August 2013 than in August 2010.
As a substitute for the center, the county has ordered seven kiosks and is currently accepting applications from businesses that are interested in hosting one. Each kiosk cost the county approximately $3,500, according to Perry. The units come pre-loaded with necessary software to access the county”s visitor website, which is currently being rebuilt, and short marketing videos that are being produced by Bill Groody, Senior Administrative Analyst Jill Ruzicka stated.
