Memorandum from the Parliamentary Administration
of the Austrian Parliament on facilities for its visitors (in
response to a letter from the Clerk of the Administration Sub-Committee)
When was your visitor centre established or due
to be established?
The opening ceremony took place on the 26 October
2005.
Was the visitor centre a new or separate building
or was existing accommodation used?
In the course of the reconstruction of the ramp
of the Austrian Parliament, underneath the ramp new space was
allocated for a visitor centre. Thus our new visitor centre is
situated within the Parliament building.
What is the scale of your centre in m2?
The part of the visitor centre which is open
for the public has approximately 600 m2.
What are its main target audiences?
Our main target audiences are the general public
of our country as well as foreign tourists and school children.
Due to the fact that we have media stations and IT equipment everybody
can get information and make academic research.
What are the main aims of your visitor centre
and how do you measure how well you meet these aims?
The visitor centre has an extensive multimedia
information library where visitors are able to find out more about
the way the Austrian Parliament works. They can also use a Time
Wheel to explore parliament's recent history, or embark on a virtual
voyage of discovery through the Houses of Parliament.
Video clips, news tickers and interactive media
terminals also enable members of the public to find out more about
the members of the National Council and the Federal Council, learn
about the European Union, and familiarise themselves with the
terminology of parliamentary democracy. In a quiz conceived especially
for younger visitors, amusing comic figures help children to absorb
the knowledge they have gained on a guided tour of parliament.
The visitor centre also has an information counter,
a small café, a cloakroom and a shop. The latter sells
a variety of publications about the Austrian Parliament as well
as souvenirs with parliamentary themes, such as coffee mugs, tea
caddies and chocolate. Visitors can get information about guided
tours of the Austrian Parliament and details of the next sessions
of the National Council and the Federal Council.
We will have an evaluation by "mystery
shoppers". That means people visit the Austrian Parliament,
join guided tours, try all the media stations of the visitor centre,
stroll around and ask various questions. Afterwards they will
fill in a form we have created to measure if we have met all our
aims.
What facilities does it contain?
The following facilities are located in the
centre: a press centre; many interactive displays; the time wheel;
video walls; an information counter, where you can buy the tickets
for a guided tour; a shop; a coffee lounge and a cloakroom.
Is there a link to the main Parliamentary building?
Does the public have to go through the Centre to reach the Parliament?
Yes; the public has to go through the visitor
centre to reach the Parliament.
How many staff does the Centre have?
— two people for the shop and information
(all together four part-time employees);
— security staff (on plenary sittings
up to six employees, on normal days up to three employees);
— one person for the coffee bar;
— one person for the cloakroom (all
together two employees); and
— one cleaning person (all together
two employees).
How many of the staff are exclusive to the Centre,
or do some have duties elsewhere?
Each person also has—corresponding to
their schedules—duties elsewhere.
How much did the Centre cost to establish?
The Parliament spent an amount of approximately
€30 million. This, however, included the design and the construction
of the visitor centre, the reconstruction of the ramp as well
as its storage areas and archives (all together approximately
7,500 m2).
What is its annual running cost?
I'm sorry, we are not allowed to publish that
kind of information.
Have you undertaken any research or surveys of
visitors to get their views of the visitor centre?
As I have already mentioned periodically we
have "mystery shoppers" who help us to evaluate the
proceedings in the visitor centre.
Do you advertise your visitor centre, for example
on the Internet, through the media or by leaflets or posters?
We have links on our homepage showing and explaining
the visitor centre, the shop, the information about guided tours
and so on.
www.parlament.gv.at
The link to the English version of our homepage:
www.parlament.gv.at/portal/page?_pageid=1033,1&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
The products sold in the shop are only listed
on the German site:
www.parlament.gv.at/portal/page?_pageid=894,1015282&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
On our homepage you can also find a photo album.
This site contains photos of events which recently took place
in the Austrian Parliament:
www.parlament.gv.at/portal/page?_pageid=895,80819&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
We have several different leaflets, most of
them in German language. The guests can take this leaflets—free
of charge—from a dispenser. Right now we are working on
a new leaflet about the shop.
What do you think are the key things that make
your visitor centre successful?
It is the mixture of information and the shop.
The visitor can get an idea of parliamentarism which is alive
and real. The visitor can also get information about the legislative
process as well as political education and information about the
role of the Austrian Parliament and its members in the democratic
process and the European Union.
What could we learn from your experience?
What we would need, is a professional advertising
and a system that guides the guests from the metro-stations or
bus-stops to the entrance of the Austrian Parliament.
7 August 2006
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