DORSET Council will be asked to meet some of the costs of a new tourist service in Dorchester if it closes the town’s library-based Tourist Information Centre. 

Dorchester Town Council has offered to co-ordinate a replacement tourist service, if the TIC closes, but says it will need financial help if it is to do so. 

The results of a public consultation are expected in the New Year. 

A recent town council meeting accepted ‘with reluctance’ that Dorchester’s traditional tourist office was likely to close as Dorset Council faces financial difficulties brought about by the pandemic. Visitor numbers to the centre have fallen by three quarters since it moved from Antelope Walk to the library which means it is no longer open on Sundays and Bank Holidays. 

Dorchester town council policy committee chair Cllr Susie Hosford says she would expect to see some financial support from Dorset Council if the expected TIC closure does come about. 

“We will be seeking some financial support to transition to a different arrangement,” she told this week’s online town council meeting. 

The council has asked town clerk Adrian Stuart to come up with a range of possible options for tourism services in the future. 

Mr Stuart told the meeting that it was not just tourists to Dorchester which would be affected by the closure of the office, but neighbouring towns and villages as well. 

Dorchester Town Council, with partner organisations, is currently working on a heritage tourism strategy for the county town based on its historic and literary connections.