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The Tourism Industry Council South Australia (TiCSA) and the South Australian Accredited Visitor Information Centre Network (SAVICN) have joined forces to represent visitor information centre (VIC)s in South Australia.

The memorandum of understanding (MOU) seeks to support the 40-plus VICs across the state by improving services and delivery, as well as providing opportunities to develop and advocate key tourism policy issues, creating a strong, unified voice for the sector.

The MOU will also ensure that all VICs in South Australia are members with TiCSA and SAVICN and have access to their industry programs and resources.

Tourism Industry Council South Australia (TiCSA) Chief Executive Officer, Shaun de Bruyn says the linkage with SAVICN is a great initiative to facilitate the sustainable growth of visitor servicing across the state.

“VICs are no doubt a great asset to tourism in South Australia, with $16.5 million invested annually by local government.

“Each year approximately one million people visit VICs to attain quality information and advice regarding their stay, resulting in $121 million in unplanned expenditure.

“We know through research that the better we support visitors in the information they seek when they are on a visit, the more time and money they will spend. Ultimately this means more jobs and prosperity for our state and local communities”

“A fundamental priority of the MOU is to help VICs better adapt to our digital world, which will complement the face-to-face storytelling that often inspires our visitors to explore all that South Australia has to offer,” said Mr de Bruyn.

SAVICN Chairman, Andy Glen says the relationship with TiCSA provides significant opportunities for VICs through engagement with industry, advocacy and key stakeholder partnerships.

“Each tourism region has identified visitor servicing as a key priority area, in which accredited VICs play a pivotal role to provide trusted advice, (where when and how the visitor seeks it) resulting in longer, more rewarding stays and increased tourism spend.

“We look forward to the challenges ahead,” said Mr Glen.