The new information centre will be situated at cafe 1868.

“Cafe 1868 is heritage listed and an attraction in its own right. It was identified as a perfect fit for the new Stawell visitor information centre,” Grampians Tourism chief executive officer Marc Sleeman said. 

“The new position on the Western Highway is a much better location and will help capture passing traffic while providing a better visitor experience.” 

Grampians Tourism said the relocation has been in the works for nearly a year. 

Grampians Tourism presented a proposal to the Northern Grampians Shire Council and received the support of the council to move to a new location. 

“Grampians Tourism are the experts when it comes to tourism marketing and therefore best place to make the decision on where it is situated,” NGSC CEO Michael Bailey said.

Grampian Tourism’s visitor information centre coordinator Jason Meehan said they approached several businesses about the relocation. 

“We wanted to pick a business that was passionate about tourism,” he said. 

NGSC contracts Grampians Tourism to provide all tourist information services in the region. 

The previous visitor information centre on Main Street Stawell received the lowest amount of visitors in the region behind Ararat, Horsham, Dunkeld and Halls Gap, with less than 5,000 visits. 

No money has been paid to cafe 1868 for hosting the visitor information centre and the arrangement will be reviewed annually, Mr Sleeman said.

They will provide staff with training so that they can assist tourists with information about the region. 

The costs saved associated with this “will provide additional tourism funds to spend on pre-arrival marketing to raise awareness of the region and attract new visitors to choose a holiday in Stawell and the Grampians,” Mr Sleeman said. 

“Stawell is an important gateway to the Grampians region which attracts 1.2 million day trip visitors and 964,000 domestic overnight visitors and 53,000 international visitors”. 

More to come.