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Visit Savannah has staffed a third downtown visitor center, this one at Ellis Square.
“Adding the new location at Ellis Square gives Visit Savannah and its chamber members a high visibility location in the heart of the city’s primary tourist district,” Visit Savannah president Joe Marinelli said in a statement.
The location complements other visitor centers near River Street and on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
The glass-encased structure owned by the city of Savannah is home to Visit Savannah’s “first impression specialists” who provide information to tourists.
But, first impression specialist Harolyn Sullivan isn’t really sure what the title means.
“Nobody really knows what it means,” said Sullivan. “We started using it a couple years ago, and I guess it’s because we’re usually the people visitors and tourists meet when they come to Savannah.”
Most people visit the new center to ask for directions to restaurants or River Street and to cool off in the air conditioning, said Sullivan.
“Most want to know general information,” she said, “and a lot ask specific questions like where Paula Deen’s restaurant is or where Forrest Gump’s bench is.”
What can’t be found in the visitor center are tourist brochures and packets.
Instead, there are two tourist assistance portals.
These self-service digital screens help tourists find all things Savannah, from restaurants and hotels to trolley stops and tour information.
“There’s so much to do,” said Sullivan. “A lot of people ask what to do in one hour or two hours, but there’s so much…it’s just impossible to cover everything.”
The staffing of the Ellis Square visitor center is part of Visit Savannah’s ongoing efforts to upgrade its visitor centers, said Marinelli, which began with a redesign of the River Street location five years ago.
The center on Ellis Square was built four years ago, said Sullivan, but was only used by security stationed at the square until Visit Savannah and the Chamber of Commerce began staffing the center before the Fourth of July weekend.
It’s still too early to judge the impact of the new visitor center, said Marinelli.
“Preliminary feedback is that we exceeded expectations, distributing visitor guides and maps,” said Marinelli, “but we’ve just begun staffing the location.”
Visit Savannah also has an exhibit in the I-95 welcome center in Pooler, which Marinelli said will be demolished in the fall and rebuilt to feature a 21st-century visitor center experience.
“Our plans for the new facility are to create a sensory type of experience,” said Marinelli, “so that when people pull off of I-95, we’re hoping that we can create something that looks, feels and sounds like the Savannah coastal experience.”
For now, he said, he looks forward to the progress of the Ellis Square visitor center.
“Our feeling is that the Savannah experience is built on service and hospitality,” said Marinelli, “and Ellis Square appears like a nice enhancement to our current locations.”
WHERE TO GO
The Ellis Square visitor center is located on the north end of the square on Barnard Street. It is staffed from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, with security personnel present 24 hours a day, seven days per week.