Do you know the way to....

While walking on Memorial Street the other day, I came upon the Parksville Qualicum Beach mobile visitor kiosk. You may remember it. Last year it was parked in front of TOSH. Then it disappeared. I came upon it at the airport earlier this summer. Great spot for it, you say. Catch all the tourists flying into Qualicum Beach and hand out brochures so they can find our local restaurants and shops. Not so fast my friend. The kiosk was not set up for business at the airport. Rather it was parked in a far corner of what looked like a dump site for construction debris. It was well into the summer tourist season when I spotted it at the airport. I believe it was mid to late July. Unfortunately I did not have a camera with me to take a photo. It looked so forlorn. If it was a puppy, I would have taken it home.

If you do not know or cannot remember the history of the little kiosk, I will try to recount it. In 2022, the Qualicum Beach Chamber of Commerce (the "Chamber") made a presentation to the Qualicum Beach council. The Chamber's plan was to build a mobile satellite visitor information kiosk.

The Chamber did their homework prior to making their presentation to council. In a letter received by town on August 21, 2022 they presented a budget for the construction of the kiosk. And, in anticipation of council's approval, they consulted with a Parksville trailer manufacturer who provided a concept drawing and an estimate of costs at $35,000. The Chamber requested 50% funding and at the September 21,2022 council meeting, council unanimously approved the funding with no discussion about staffing, hours of operation, ownership or logistics of how it would be moved about. (Full disclosure, the decision to fund the kiosk was made by the previous council . However, three members of our current council were also members of that council.)

The Chamber requested the remaining $17,500 from the Parksville Qualicum Beach Tourism Association ("Tourism Association"). I may be wrong, but my understanding is that the Tourism Association also receives funding from the town of Qualicum Beach. If so, it would seem that the town of Qualicum Beach provided, indirectly, more than 50% of the funds required. This may seem like a minor quibble, but the cost of minor quibbles add up in the end.

According to correspondence from the Chamber in its application to Council, the kiosk would be moved around town as well be at regional events. The kiosk was to be staffed by visitor information councillors hired through the Canada Summer Jobs Program and existing Visitor Centre volunteers. The kiosk would contain literature and maps. In its presentation, the Chamber cited the following benefits of the kiosk:

1.	The Chamber would have an improved downtown presence and would demonstrate its desire to be closer to many of the chamber members;
2.	Greeting visitors in the downtown area could contribute to them staying longer in the downtown area to the benefit of the downtown businesses;
3.	The ability to move the kiosk to a variety of events around the region will enhance events through the provision of information services dispensing information about other activities and attractions, enhancing the visitor experience and promoting increased and return visits.

Lofty goals. Were they achieved? I am not certain. I did not stalk the kiosk continually in its first summer of operation, but it appeared to spend the summer of 2023 parked at TOSH. The hours of operation were limited, possibly due to the inability to find staff or volunteers. Too bad for the tourist who pulls into town at 4PM looking for food or lodging.

Fast forward to 2024. Late July or early August, the kiosk popped up at Clocktower Square. It was more often closed than open, thus failing in its job to provide visitors with information about our town. I did note a sign on the kiosk advising that in the event the kiosk was closed, another office was available at the beach. Following up on this suggestion, after travelling to the beach office, I discovered that it too was closed. Not a good impression to make for our visitors.

I note that the kiosk was the subject of a closed meeting of council. At a meeting of an unknown date, council authorized the Chamber to locate the Kiosk in Clocktower Square until the end of September 2024. This explains my sighting of the kiosk in late July / early August. No explanation of why this matter needed to be dealt with in a closed council meeting.

Also at the closed council meeting, council approved a Fee for Service Agreement between the town and the Chamber. Public disclosure of the actual agreement was not provided. Perhaps if it was, we would be able to locate the little kiosk in the future, determine the number of hours that it will be open and staffed and ultimately assess whether the town is getting fair value for our tax payer funded investment.

J Noel

September 10 2024

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