The Oamaru and Waitaki Visitor Information Centre and Whitestone City said, in a social media post this week, it would shut on May 3 after the Waitaki District Council stopped funding the facility.
Last year, almost 36,000 visitors came into the centre, while over 12,000 visited Whitestone City, both housed at 12 Harbour St in the historic precinct, it said.
The council reiterated there were no plans to further fund the centre.
In the social media post, centre manager Carolyn Lewis said staff had ‘‘welcomed the growing number of domestic and international visitors arriving in our town and district, providing them with advice and information that they are wanting’’.
‘‘We spend our time face to face with these visitors, cheerleading for our local businesses, attractions, natural and built environments and activities, and events that make Oamaru and the Waitaki district such an amazing place to experience.’’
Submitting to the annual plan for continued funding was ‘‘our last chance to save this service’’, she wrote.
More than 90 letters of support had been received by the centre, including from businesses, hospitality and tour operators, accommodation providers, schools, community groups and heritage groups.
Ms Lewis previously said staff were ‘‘pretty gutted’’ with the decision to stop funding the centre last year.
‘‘We are pretty much the only service that the council provides specifically for visitors.’’
A council spokesman said no further funding for the information centre was planned.
A final 10 months of financial support for the centre was announced in the 2025 long-term plan.
The council was exploring ways to offer similar tourism information services at its existing cultural facilities or at the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony, at a lower cost to the ratepayer, the spokesman said.
