IVIC Celebrates 23 Years of Service to Visitors

The San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau (ConVis) debuted its International Visitor Information Center (IVIC) on October 7, 1985.  The original location was Horton Plaza – then the new and exciting shopping complex that had opened its doors only a few months earlier and was destined to forever change the face of downtown San Diego.

Over the course of the past twenty-three years, IVIC staff and volunteers have serviced more than 2.8 million visitors and potential visitors (combining phone, e-mail, and walk-in inquiries) to the San Diego region, providing information that ranges from general visitor fare, to a wide variety of trivia that only experienced visitor information specialists well versed in local lore would know.  (One recent challenge put forth by a visitor: “Where is Frankie Laine buried?”)

With its multi-lingual staff of four full-time and 13 part-time employees and more than 80 volunteers, IVIC, together with its sister facility the La Jolla Visitor Center (which opened in partnership with Promote La Jolla in 2002) serves as the region’s official visitor resource.

Now five years in its new location at the corner of West Broadway and West Harbor Drive, across from the Broadway pier, IVIC has taken hold as a highly visible and accessible location for visitors descending upon San Diego from plane, train or automobile.  Strategically placed in between major bayfront attractions (such as the U.S.S. Midway, the harbor cruise companies and the Maritime Museum) and all conceivable methods of transportation (a hop, skip and jump from the cruise ship terminal and ferry landing; a stone’s throw from Santa Fe Depot; and a short jaunt from San Diego International Airport), IVIC is easily a visitor’s most comprehensive, one-stop shop for discounted attraction tickets, information, and free maps and guides.
 
And the statistics prove it!  Despite trepidation about a downturned economy, ConVis’ International Visitor Information Center has seen a 15% increase in ticket sales over last year’s figures, and the average number of visitors in FY 2008 was 11,198 per month.  In fact, the number of August walk-in visitors increased this year by 25% over August, 2007. It seems downtown San Diego visitor activity shows no signs of slowing in the “staycation” era.  With a steady stream of visitor traffic making use of ConVis’ Visitor Services, members can certainly benefit from advertising at the downtown and La Jolla visitor centers.

A highly successful volunteer program has also contributed to IVIC’s success over the past twenty-three years.  Over 80 active volunteers from all walks of life donated some 14,307 hours of service in FY 2008.  “We started our volunteer program in 1986 with five Travel & Tourism students from Mesa College,” said Sue Mason, Director of Visitor Services, who has been part of the IVIC visitor services team since its formation in 1985. “Our longest-serving volunteer has been with us for 17 years, and several others have been with us since 1993 – donating their time and talents to serve as gracious San Diego ambassadors to the hundreds of visitors with whom they come in contact on a daily basis.”
 
ConVis President & CEO David Peckinpaugh notes, “Our Visitor Information Centers play a crucial role in providing the final link to ConVis' marketing efforts, promoting service to visitors, both before they get here and after they arrive.  If San Diego is to continue to thrive and prosper, so much depends on how we service our visitors.  We depend on our Visitor Information Center staff and volunteers to give them a very favorable first impression of San Diego.  They are true San Diego Ambassadors, oftentimes the first people our visitors see when they arrive to San Diego.”

You don’t have to be a visitor to make use of ConVis’ Visitor Services.  San Diego locals are also invited to stop by IVIC for discount attraction tickets, free maps and guides, and personal expertise that will help them to rediscover America’s Finest City!

The International Visitor Information Center is located downtown on the waterfront, at the corner of West Broadway and Harbor Drive. The La Jolla Visitor Center is located at the corner of Herschel Avenue & Prospect Street, in the Village of La Jolla. Both visitor centers are open 7 days a week. San Diego Information Hotline: 619.236.1212  Web site:  www.sandiego.org.