Hastings Visitor Centre reopens at Station Plaza

The Hastings Visitor Information Centre has reopened after a short move across the town to the Station Plaza campus of East Sussex College.

In a Town Deal accelerator project involving the college, Hastings Borough Council and other local partners, town leaders gathered to unveil the new Visitor Information Centre last week.

Visitors who travel to Hastings, particularly by bus or train will now be able to benefit from the Centre’s excellent new location, right next to Hastings’ railway and bus stations.

The new-look and new location of the Information Centre forms one of the projects in the Hastings’ Town Investment Plan, for which £24.3m of town deal funding was recently secured as part of £110m investment package. This was in addition to £1m of ‘accelerated’ funding that made the opening of the Visitor Information Centre possible.

View of East Sussex College Campus and Station Plaza

Visitors, travellers, and stay-cationers will be able to access a range of useful information from the new tourist hub, such as local attractions, events, excursions, places of interest, top restaurants, and travel information for Hastings and 1066 Country. Local books, maps, gifts and souvenirs can also be bought, and this range is being extended.

 Cllr Paul Barnett, lead councillor for tourism, said,

“Now the town is welcoming visitors again for what will be a really busy summer, it’s great to reopen the tourism information centre again.

 Thanks to national funding, we have a new information centre open seven days a week, so come along and see what you can find out about unusual aspects of Hastings.”

The Information Centre’s new home also presents an excellent opportunity for East Sussex College students and Kickstart employees as they will be able to work alongside knowledgeable staff to gain experience in tourism and customer service.

Dan Shelley, Executive Director, Strategic Partnerships & Engagement, at East Sussex College, said,

“The Visitor Information Centre is a very welcomed addition to our college, and we’re really excited to be working closely with Hastings Borough Council to open the centre.

We’re ideally positioned here at Station Plaza to help visitors from Brighton, London and Kent find out about all the incredible things that go on in our vibrant town. We’re hoping that this partnership will help tourism in the town get back to and grow beyond where it was before the pandemic.”

Credits: Photo shows the mayor of Hastings, Cllr James Bacon, Deputy leader of Hastings Borough Council, Cllr Paul Barnett, Cllr Trevor Webb, Hannah Brookshaw and Gesine Garz from Hastings Borough Council and Debbie Gibbs from East Sussex College outside, and inside, the new centre.

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