Gosport Tourist Information Centre given a new lease of life following extension to stay open

The centre is situated in the bus station complex – but it has faced a bumpy road this year following its initial closure in April as part of Gosport Borough Council’s cost saving scheme. A small Gosport Travel company, Maritime Heritage Tours Ltd, made the decision to take over the information centre because of how valuable it is in the local community. The travel company managed to pay for the lease up until December 23 of this year, which is when the team of volunteers faced the centre’s closure yet again.

In a bid to try and keep the centre open, Gosport Borough Council offered to extend the lease into 2024 for a further six months at a ‘reasonable’ rate. The team put out a collection tin in the office in the hope that they could raise enough funds to save the venue – and within three weeks locals and tourists had donated enough money to be able to pay the rent in full for the next six months.

Mike Critchley, of Maritime Heritage Tours Ltd, said: “We are to say that the Gosport Tourist Office is to continue for another six months or so. We are very excited about that because we do see a need for local people and tourists coming to our town, to point them in the right direction. We have a lot of attractions here for you to see and we are pleased to announce that, here we are, in the bus station, pointing people in the right direction and also selling Naval books. I’m a Naval author and that’s what we do to pay our bills.

"We didn’t expect to be here, that’s for sure. Our lease expired on the 23rd of December – the council, I have to say, have been very generous towards us. Yes, we are paying our way, and we will do our best for the next six months.”

The Gosport Tourist Information Centre will initially open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday each week with the view to possibly open more days in the week after March.