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New On-line Guide Coming Soon!

Visitors to Colchester are set to benefit from a comprehensive on-line guide to eating and drinking in the town.

This innovative project between the Colchester Town Partnership and the Borough Council's VisitColchester Information Centre will provide information about local restaurants, cafes and bars which will be published on the award-winning www.visitcolchester.com website.

The project was officially announced at the town's Food & Drink Festival which took place over the weekend (30 June/1July) in Castle Park and the on-line guide will be launched at the end of August.

Commenting on the project, Karen Turnbull, the Council's Tourism & Visitor Development Officer, said: "One of Colchester's major assets is its wide range of places to eat and drink. We know that more and more people are seeking information via the internet nowadays. An on-line guide will be a real asset to the promotion of the town to visitors helping them to plan their time here. It will also help local people, perhaps when they have visiting friends and relatives or when they are looking for something a little different for a special celebration."

Latest figures for May showed that the website helps 35,000 visitors a month. In addition, the same information will be available on the 24:7 real time information kiosk which is situated in the window of the VisitColchester Information Centre in Queen Street and serves 700 people a month.

Non-web customers won't be left out however, as the team at the VisitColchester Information Centre is planning to print out guides to Eating & Drinking to give away or email them to people if they wish.

Commenting on behalf of the Colchester Town Partnership, Project Manager Katie Farmer said: "This is yet another example of the wonderful work that we are undertaking in collaboration with other key organisations in Colchester. The new on-line guide will ensure that more people than ever are aware of the wealth of excellent places to eat and drink in our historic town."

The Council's Portfolio Holder for Culture & Environment, Councillor Christopher Arnold added: "Colchester is on the cusp of something great. There are few destinations, especially in the East of England Region, which can claim to have such tourism potential with such projects as the new Firstsite cultural attraction and the new Community Stadium. But it is also essential that we meet people's rising expectations in information provision so that visitors return here and recommend Colchester as a place to stay and visit to their friends and relatives. This project will be a major contribution to achieving that aim." ENDS 2 July 2007