Two groups of 5th and 6th form pupils from Earlston High School visited Melrose Tourist Information Centre. They are studying an SVQ in Travel and Tourism and as part of this course were visiting Melrose to map the area and its tourist attractions.

Both groups took it in turn to tour the centre and take note of the kinds of information we have and the services provided. They then went into the town centre to make up a profile of the town and its attractions, places to stay, places to eat and shop etc.

They had also formulated a questionnaire for us to complete which had been handed in prior to their visit. The questions related to the kinds of information we have, the services which we provide (nationally and locally), the extent to which we use IT in our work and the demographic of our visitors.

The students all seemed to be genuinely interested in what they were doing and a couple did ask questions about what we could provide to the visitor over and above the information we hold in the centre. The visit seemed to go very well and also appeared to be useful from the point of view of informing local people where we are and what we do here – as one student commented “I live in Melrose and I didn’t even know that this place existed”.

For further information contact Sheila.Campbell@visitscotland.com