Tourism Nanaimo's Visitor Centre has shut down for good. It had been in operation since 2015 before closing for its last day as of Dec. 23, 2023 (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

new location

Tourism Nanaimo shuts down Northfield Road visitor info centre

Dec 28, 2023 | 5:28 AM

NANAIMO — Citing a majority of its visitors aren’t in fact destined for the Harbour City, a new visitor centre will open in a few months with the aim of better connecting with local tourists.

Tourism Nanaimo recently announced it permanently shut down its Northfield Rd. visitor centre as of Dec. 23.

Tourism Nanaimo will move from just off the Nanaimo Parkway at the base of Northfield Rd. to the Vancouver Island Conference Centre (VICC) as of of March 1 in a dedicated entrance opposite of the Courtyard by Marriott hotel.

Bill Corsan, the City of Nanaimo’s corporate and business development director, said the move follows a Tourism Nanaimo led review of best practices of visitor centres across the province and elsewhere in Canada.

“They realized a lot of the Northfield visitor information visits are people who are looking for information on communities outside of Nanaimo, people who are heading through to Port Alberni, Tofino, Campell River, Parksville-Qualicum,” Corsan told NanaimoNewsNOW.

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Tourism Nanaimo, a non-profit organization overseen by a board of directors, moves into the VICC on March 1.

Corsan said the pending location previously didn’t make sense until the hotel opened beside the conference centre, stating the area was previously dormant with not many people in the area.

“The Vancouver Island Conference Centre facility on the Gordon St. side across from the new Marriott hotel was actually purpose built to have a visitor centre in it,” he noted.

Corsan, who attends Tourism Nanaimo board meetings representing City of Nanaimo staff, said the belief is the Gordon St. should benefit from the fact most visitors to Nanaimo venture to the downtown/waterfront area.

He said new investments such as the Hullo fast ferry service, Courtyard by Marriott hotel and various City of Nanaimo downtown revitalization efforts should help the transition for the new visitor centre.

“With the increased number of visitors to the conference centre, there’s a lot of extra activity happening downtown and we think this is a good location to give it a try.”

As for the now former visitor centre off the Nanaimo Parkway, Corsan said it’s his understanding that the City-owned building will transition to a usable space in the near future for their Parks, Recreation and Culture department.

The 900 square foot glass-walled visitor centre opened in 2015.

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ian.holmes@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes