New visitor information pod arrives on Cheltenham High Street

Visitors to Cheltenham’s town centre will notice a new addition to the High Street from this week as Cheltenham Borough Council installs a new information pod as part of a three month trial to test a new approach to visitor information in the town. The pod, which will be known as the Information Exchange (or iX for short) is the latest initiative to help support the town’s economic recovery and encourage both locals and visitors to discover more of what Cheltenham has to offer.

The iX will feature large outwardly-facing digital screens containing information on what’s on in the town that week, with QR codes to discover more - as well as large maps of Cheltenham that it is hoped will encourage people to explore more of the town. When in full use, the public will be able to go inside the pod and browse an extensive range of leaflets and information on the town and surrounding area.

The concept behind the iX is that local organisations, charities and projects will be given the opportunity to operate from the space on a pop-up basis, providing them with a valuable opportunity to engage with the public in a high-footfall area of the town, whilst maximising the iX’s accessibility to visitors.

David Jackson, Manager of Marketing Cheltenham at Cheltenham Borough Council said: “In a normal year, Cheltenham welcomes well in excess of 2 million visitors, so as the town’s visitor economy, hospitality and cultural sectors all get back into full swing again, we wanted to make sure visitors have every opportunity to explore all that the town has to offer. The Information Exchange is therefore a way of helping to inform visitors about events and things to see and do in the town that they may not have been aware of – but delivered in a way that is also linked to our visitcheltenham.com website in real-time.”

“We’re aware that the operating model is a different approach, which is all part of the pilot phase. We’re keen to hear from local organisations therefore so that we can ensure the iX is open and utilised as much as possible over the next three months. To have the opportunity of having a High Street location from which to promote your event, exhibition or latest initiative is something we hope local partners will find really attractive, so we’d encourage anyone that may be interested to get in touch.”

Prior to the start of the pandemic in 2020, Cheltenham’s Tourist Information Centre operated from the Wilson Art Gallery and Museum. However, the Wilson has been closed for the past two years as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and a subsequent major refurbishment which will see the creation of a new community exhibition gallery and exciting community arts café.

The Information Exchange itself has been constructed by Worcester-based modular building supplier Cube Modular Ltd.

Brandon Weston, Managing Director at Cube Modular said: “We are delighted to have been able to turn Cheltenham Borough Council’s design concept into reality. The information pod we have created is a visually attractive, innovative and functional pop-up solution.”

Further information on the Information Exchange, including how local organisations and groups can use the space can be found here.