10/07/2009

Now celebrating its 14^th year, the Visitor Information Patrol was developed to help visitors and residents find out what there is to see and do in York during the summer months, complimenting the services offered by the De Grey Rooms and Station Information Centres.   

The team this year are:  Daniel Kiernan, aged 21 and Holly West, aged 19, both from York and Claudia Shroeder aged 21 and Katrin Winkel aged 22, both from Germany.  Between them they speak five different languages: German, French, Spanish, Swedish and Italian.

The VIPs have been equipped with a bright yellow information barrow, sponsored by York attractions including York Dungeon, York City Sightseeing, the National Railway Museum, JORVIK Viking Centre, YorkBoat and Creepy Crawlies.  The VIPs will be based in St Helen's Square throughout the summer and will also be welcoming and greeting coach parties at Union Terrace Coach Park, St Georges Field and other coach and car parks in the city.

Chris Morton, Visitor Services Manager for York's Visitor Information Centres said, ‘the VIPs will be at the front line of what is one of York's most important industries. It's great for us to have staff actually out on the streets during the summer months helping people make the most of all the fantastic events and visitor attractions on offer.  Plus the fact that they can speak so many different languages shows York is serious about offering a warm welcome to our thousands of overseas visitors. ‘

VIP Danny Kiernan, said, ‘ I'm really looking forward to spending the summer helping York's visitors get the most out of their stay here.  This job will help me hone my customer service skills and give me the chance to talk passionately about my home city.'

The VIP service will operate from Monday 13^th July 2009 until Sunday 6^th September 2009.  ENDS