Council unveils visitor van

East Gippsland Shire Council will use one of its fleet vehicles as part of a pop-up Visitor Information Centre this upcoming tourist season.

The large van has been vinyl-wrapped with two images showing the natural beauty of the region.

This will help council create eye-catching displays and draw people to the stall at major events and in areas of high tourist traffic during the peak season.

Mayor Cr Joe Rettino said the imagery on the van was carefully selected.

“Our staff worked through a number of concepts to find images that were colourful and identifiably East Gippsland.

"In addition, the images had to suit the shape of the van. We were very deliberate in ensuring the selected images showcase both our inland and coastal attractions,” Cr Rettino said.

“Recent changes to requirements for accredited Visitor Information Centres mean we can take a fresh look at how we deliver this service.

"The new-look van will be incorporated into this new service; however, it is part of the pool fleet so will continue to be used for other tasks as well.”

It has been shown people who attend a Visitor Information Centre spend more money and time in a region.

“The idea of the van is to take the visitor information services to where the people are, rather than people making a special trip to our centres for information,” Cr Rettino said.

With the new flexibility available to accredited centres, council is also looking to adjust the opening hours of the Bairnsdale and Lakes Entrance visitor information centres.

“The aim is to target our services to when more people are in the region by having longer opening hours in summer and contrasting that with shorter hours in winter.

"Based on these adjustments, we expect the pop-up Visitor Information Centre program to be cost-neutral,” Cr Rettino said.

Members of East Gippsland Shire Council’s Economic Development Unit Stephen Kleinitz and Wendy McPherson show Mayor Cr Joe Rettino the new-look van.