Madam,

I’m a frequent visitor to Gwynedd and have been coming to the area around Llwyngwril for over 40 years. This time I was astonished to see that the tourist information centre had been closed in Barmouth. The one in Dolgellau closed some time ago.

Now please excuse me if I’m being silly, but isn’t tourism a major contributor to the area’s business prosperity? Does this mean it’s no longer important and I as a frequent visitor should consider spending my money elsewhere?

What stupidity allows these decisions on spending priorities to be taken?

You may have heard of a town near where I live called Stratford upon Avon where a a similar decision was taken some years ago. It was immediately a catastrophe and the move was quickly reversed.

There must be an operating model that can make these tourist information centres viable.

Certainly if I was paying business rates in Gwynedd I would expect some support in promoting my business to tourists. Otherwise the self-fulfilling prophecy of closing information points will be many fewer tourists.

Yours etc,

Stephen Smith, Westwood Grove, Solihull.

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