The Alleghany Highlands Chamber of Commerce & Tourism is excited to announce the installation of two wayfinding kiosks located in the City of Covington at the Mid-City Mall parking area and in the Town of Clifton Forge at the Town Hall parking lot. Both kiosks were obtained via grant funds through the Rural Community Development Initiative as part of the ongoing signage and wayfinding efforts in the region. Wayfinding has been identified as a fundamental element of the visitor experience which impacts the ability of visitors to connect to attractions and destinations. The Chamber’s Executive Director, Teresa Hammond, says “I offer special thanks to Covington City Manager Alan Dressler and Clifton Forge Town Manager Chuck Unroe for their assistance in identifying and preparing the kiosks sites in their respective communities as well as to Terri McClung of the Alleghany Highlands Economic Development Corporation who served as fiscal agent for the project.”
The Wayfinding kiosks system is designed to move the visitor experience ‘from website to on-site.’ Generally, a visitor’s experience begins with researching a tourism or community website and concludes when the visitor reaches their selected destination. It has been found that visitors’ satisfaction with navigating a community once they arrive is often measured by how successfully the overall wayfinding system facilitates a seamless experience for the visitor.
These new wayfinding kiosks offer uniformly designed information in a central location at each site. The kiosks identify information of interest about each downtown area for tourists as well as show parking locations. Each kiosk also features space for posting upcoming local events.
Susan Knick, the special projects coordinator for the Chamber, says “The kiosks are beautiful additions to our communities! They are both attractive and an asset to our visitors and residents alike; offering information for visitors as well as a central location for residents to find information about upcoming events in the area. It is our belief that this information will make it easier for visitors to locate attractions and encourage them to spend more time exploring our wonderful hometowns.”
We invite you to visit the new kiosks to see what continues to make us Uniquely Alleghany!
