VisitScotland is set to close its visitor centre in London on 31 March 2007 owing to decreased visitor numbers and increasing costs at the centre.

Visitor numbers have declined from more than 300,000 ten years ago to less than 50,000 in 2006, whereas the running costs have increased to more than £500,000. Consequently, it costs around £830 to generate each booking made at the centre.

The national tourist agency also believes that most of the tourists who visit the centre already plan to visit Scotland, so the London office is not creating significant volumes of new business.

A VisitScotland spokesperson said: “The decline in visitor numbers to the centre over the past few years has been fairly dramatic. This change is mainly due to the increasing use of the internet by visitors looking for travel information. Along with this decline in use of the centre, the running costs of the operation have been increasing.

“London remains an important tourism market for Scotland As well as utilising a range of marketing tactics to target London-based consumers, we will continue to have a VisitScotland presence in London, focusing on business tourism and PR. VisitBritain will continue to provide an all-UK information service to visitors from its premises in Lower Regent Street.”

The £500,000 invested in the visitor centre will now be targeted on marketing ventures. Details: www.visitscotland.com