by Sabrina Simms

VIDALIA — The Vidalia Welcome Center will be closing its doors Friday and will not be reopening.

The welcome center did not get as many visitors as others throughout the state, said Bill Sherman, communications director for the Louisiana lieutenant governor’s office.

“The basic function of any welcome center is to provide a warm welcome to our state (and) to provide essential information requested by the visitor,” Sherman said. “In doing so, we often help the visitor learn something new — for example, a new museum or restaurant — which encourages them to stay longer.”

Sherman said information and literature that had been offered at Vidalia’s Welcome Center will continue to be offered at the Vidalia Conference and Convention Center after the welcome center closes Friday.

“The Vidalia Conference and Convention Center has, in fact, asked to retain the tour guides, maps and much of the other literature available at all of our welcome centers around the state,” Sherman said.

Vidalia Welcome Center Manager Grace Silverstein recently retired, and Sherman said other employees of the welcome center are in a rotation period to fill that position, and Sherman pointed out there are other busier Louisiana welcome centers in the region.

“In addition to the St. Francisville Welcome Center on U.S. 61, travelers can also take advantage of the welcome center at Mound … on I-20 west of the Mississippi state line,” Sherman said.

Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser said all rural area welcome centers have seen a decline in visitors in recent years and the Vidalia convention center’s location on the riverfront makes it less accessible from the highway.

Previously, the Vidalia Welcome Center was located on Carter Street about a mile from the Mississippi River bridge. The center was moved to its current location on the riverfront when the Vidalia Conference and Convention Center was opened in the summer of 2007.

“We have welcome centers on all the major highways coming into the state,” Nungesser said. “With continued budget cuts, we have to make tough decisions to ensure that we’re getting the most bang for our buck.”

Nungesser said handing out brochures has become obsolete because information is readily available online. However, he said tourists do stop and grab information along major highways when they take a break from long road trips.

Employees of rural welcome centers, Nungesser said, will be trained to use social media and post information online for tourists.

“We’re making sure all the information is available on our website,” Nungesser said.

With digital access to information and GPS on the rise, Nungesser said the state money normally used to print maps and brochures for rural areas can be repurposed to attract tourists in other ways.