Clackmannanshire Council (CC) has claimed that the national tourism agency, VisitScotland, has pulled out of discussions to retain the county's only staffed Visitor Information Centre (VIC) at Tillicoultry.

The council has expressed disappointment at VisitScotland's decision to withdraw from talks, which had also included Sterling Mills Outlet Shopping Village in a bid to find out how a staffed VIC could be maintained in the future. CC spokesperson for tourism, Kenny Earle, said: "This late change in VisitScotland's stance is, therefore, very disappointing. Nevertheless, we will continue to work with VisitScotland in an effort to provide information facilities for visitors to Clackmannanshire."

However, VisitScotland has refuted the claims and said that while reduced local authority funding means that the VIC is not financially viable, it was still in discussions with the council over the provision of future tourism services. A spokesperson for VisitScotland said: "because as far as we are concerned we are still very much in discussions with Clackmannanshire Council over the information provision for the area."

The news comes in the same week that Kurt Jansen, policy advisor for the Tourism Alliance, wrote about the important role that VICs play in promoting local tourism. (See Leisure Opportunities issue 506, p.18)