Stamford Visitor Centre volunteers greet coaches at bus station to maximise tourism boost
Volunteers from Stamford Visitor Centre are helping to boost tourism by greeting people arriving on coaches.
Robina Hill, who runs Loomes of Stamford Clock and Watch Repair with her husband Robert Loomes, is part of a team that has conducted a survey to record coaches coming to Stamford.
A recent spate of car drivers parking in the bus station in St Peter’s Hill has brought concerns that coach firms are being put off coming to the town.
But, despite this, Robina believes the town’s economy is “buoyant” and that this is, in part, down to the visitor centre volunteers making tourists and coach drivers feel welcome.
She said: “The three-week survey at the bus station meant volunteers going up there every day from 10.30am to 1.30pm and recording coaches arriving.
“They then acted as a ‘meet and greet’ service for passengers, giving visitor advice where it was needed.”
Robina believes Stamford is bucking the trend of many town centres, which have lost independent businesses as well as chains because of the ongoing impact of covid and the cost of living.
And she cites the prevalence of coffee shops in Stamford as an indicator of buoyant business.
“People won’t travel to a town just for a coffee,” she said.
“Cafes only survive on the back of retailers - and many of our retailers are doing very well.
“The success stories include Harrison and Dunn, Black Orchid, Walkers Books, Energy Clothing, Sinclairs, St Mary’s Books, plus the many hair and beauty salons.
“There must be about 200 independent retailers in Stamford that are surviving well, and there is even a Delaine Buses advert that calls it ‘the Stamford Experience’ and mentions Stamford has 50 bars, restaurants and cafes.”
The results of the coach survey are being collated but volunteers have said anecdotally that there have been up to 10 a day during the survey period.
Stamford Visitor Centre volunteer Alan Gray, who has been taking part, said visitors are coming from as far afield as Kent, Durham, and Tamworth in Staffordshire.
“Some were on a mystery tour and had stopped in Stamford for a cream tea,” he said, adding that people seemed delighted to be welcomed as they arrived.
Robina is looking at ways the volunteers can further enhance the experience for visitors, including by offering vouchers for town shops, cafes and restaurants, and having tabards or sashes that volunteers can wear, to make them more official.
Business people who can help with sponsorship of the Stamford Visitor Centre volunteer activities, or who would like to be involved in making visitors feel welcome, can speak to Robina at Loomes of Stamford, on Stamford Town Bridge, St Mary’s Hill.
Stamford Visitor Centre, established by Blue Badge Guide Jill Collinge, is based at the foyer of Stamford Corn Exchange in Broad Street.