Visitor Center goes higher-tech
For Immediate Release, October 2007
By Kyle Stock
The Post and Courier
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Screens allow tourists to select multi-media presentation on area attractions
Charleston Mayor Joe Riley and a cadre of government officials and hospitality promoters unveiled a $300,000 interactive guide in the downtown visitors center Monday.
Dubbed "Port of Entry," the slick setup comprises four kiosks where visitors will use a computer linked to a corresponding screen hanging from the ceiling. The screens project a menu of things to do in Charleston, each linked to a map and a video montage. A fifth projector maps the peninsula on a lighted glass floor between the four kiosks.
Staying power
A by-the-numbers look at Charleston's tourist industry:
4 million - Annual visitors
32,000 - Carriage tours per year
13,400 - hotel rooms
4 - Average length of stay by nights
"Today, we have the wedding of 19th-century history with 21st-century technology," said Rick Mosteller, vice president of Fort Sumter Tours Inc. and chairman of the Charleston Area Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Boston-based Talisman Media Productions started building the display in December.
The display highlights most of the Charleston hallmarks that draw an estimated million visitors a year: historic military forts, beaches, plantations, walking tours, local museums and various other attractions, including the Hunley submarine exhibit, the South Carolina Aquarium and the Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum.
About a quarter of Charleston's tourists stop into the visitors center.
Riley called the interactive guide a "very important tool" that might entice visitors to stay longer.
"You'll have a better time; your marriage will be stronger," the mayor quipped.
Reach Kyle Stock at 937-5763 or kstock@postandcourier.com
