Information on the facilities for visitors
to the Parliament of Canada from the Director of Parliamentary
Public Programmes (in response to a letter from the Clerk of the
Administration Sub-Committee)
NOTE ON
OUR CENTRE:
Currently, our visitor centre is located in
the Centre Block of Parliament Hill. It is known as the Visitor
Welcome Centre (VWC) and offers a space where tours gather
prior to embarking on a tour. This space offers some introductory
information on Parliament and the work that takes place on Parliament
Hill. Currently, this centre is unable to meet the demands of
our volume of visitors. We are planning for a new, larger Parliament
Hill Welcome Centre (PHWC) that will be able to accommodate
the needs of our visitors. In our answers below, we will make
every effort to answer based on our current centre as well as
our projected centre.
When was your visitor centre established or due
to be established?
VWC:
In June 1996, Canada's national legislature
opened a small Visitor Welcome Centre (VWC) in the Centre Block
of the Parliament Buildings. The VWC is located below the rotunda,
in the space on the first floor which formerly housed the Senate
and House of Commons post offices. It is a place where tour groups
and individuals can gather after completing security scans, before
embarking on their guided tour of Parliament. The Visitor Welcome
Centre and its exhibit have been implemented as part of a continuing
effort to improve the visitor experience on Parliament Hill. As
visitors wait for their tour to begin, the Centre responds to
their need for information about Parliament and offers basic visitor
amenities such as shelter and seating, public washrooms, and a
coat check. These are amenities which were not previously available
to visitors in Centre Block. The VWC provides a better reception
area inside Centre Block, as well as an enhanced orientation to
the building. It is also a space Parliamentarians can use to meet
their guests or constituents.
Since 1984 a seasonal InfoTent has been
set up to welcome visitors. Located near West Block, the InfoTent
is only open for four months each year from the May long weekend
to Labour Day. It offers general information, limited shelter,
free tour tickets. During our summer months, when tour volume
is at its peak, the InfoTent is a general meeting area
for tours. Tour guides marshal groups to centre block from the
InfoTent to begin security screening prior to tour departure.
PHWC:
The information and orientation services currently
provided in the seasonal InfoTent, the entrance area of Centre
Block and at the Parliament of Canada Information Centre (which
is a walk-in information centre across the street from Parliament
Hill) are inadequate to accommodate the current demand. The Library
of Parliament and the National Capital Commission are responsible
for managing these services and are in the planning stages of
a permanent and adequate space to accommodate the many required
facilities and functions.
Was the visitor centre a new or separate building
or was existing accommodation used?
VWC:
The exhibitry and visual elements of the Visitor
Welcome centre were new, however it is located in the existing
Centre Block of Parliament Hill.
PHWC:
The new PHWC building will be built, likely
underground and adjacent to the Centre block, in order to accommodate
the current demands.
What is the scale of your Centre in m2?
VWC:
The Visitor Welcome Centre is approximately
10 square meters in size. It is divided into an exhibit accounting
for 8 square meters and a kiosk which is 2 square meters. Our
services do not remain solely in this centre. We offer guided
tours, publications and exhibitry which can be found around Parliament
Hill.
PHWC:
In order to update our services to ensure that
we are able to accommodate the volume, a feasibility study has
indicated that our program offerings grow to approximately 3,460m2.
The table listed below indicates how our space will be divided:
| Functional Group | Recommended Program Areas
| Capacity |
| 1. Information/Orientation | 1,415 m2
| 400 |
| 2. Screening/Marshalling | 1,385 m2
| 620 |
| 3. Education/Programs | 660 m2
| 450 |
| Total Program Area | 3,460 m2
| 1,470 |
| | |
What are its main target audiences?
We offer tours and information to foreign visitors, school
groups, local visitors, as well as business visitors. Statistically,
in 2004-05 there were:
3,100 visitors to the Parliament of Canada's Information Centre.
12,310 tours in Centre Block.
364,750 visitors in Centre Block.
1,179 tours in our East Block (Note: the East Block tour is
a summer tour option) 12,666 visitors in East Block.
263,475 visits to the Peace Tower.
43% of all tours (1,746) and 18% of all visitors (65,661)
were students.
What are the main aims of your visitor centre and how do you
measure how well you meet these aims?
PHWC:
Five guiding principles create a common vision for the development
of a Welcome Centre on Parliament Hill. They are:
1. Visitors to Parliament should have a positive and pleasant
experience.
2. Parliament must operate in a dignified and unimpeded
manner.
3. Security of place, of occupants and of visitors will
be assured.
4. The Heritage and symbolic value of Parliament Hill
will be respected.
5. The physical characteristics of Parliament Hill will
be valued and enhanced.
Through various surveys (internally and externally) our many
programs and services are continually monitored to ensure that
we are meeting the needs of visitors. We also aim to manage visitors
expectations prior to visiting (through website messaging, www.parl.gc.ca/vis
and through print promotions in weekly papers) to ensure that
visitors have an understanding of what to expect.
What facilities does it contain:
—exhibition area. If so, how large? What are its main
themes?
VWC:
The central unifying message of the Visitor Welcome Centre
is Parliament: Shaping Canada's Destiny. Large photos of
the Senate Chamber and the House of Commons Chamber are displayed
in a prominent location. All elements of the exhibit—text,
photos, video and artifacts—have been developed and carefully
selected so as to provide a balanced presentation of the Senate
and the House of Commons. The Visitor Welcome Centre multi-media
exhibit illustrates the varied work of parliamentarians and includes
a digitized slide presentation focusing on the work of parliamentarians
in their senatorial district or constituency as well as a DVD
video.
—shop
VWC:
The Library of Parliament offers a boutique for visitors
to Parliament Hill. The Boutique is located in the Centre Block
of Parliament Hill (approximately 6002 feet). For those that are
unable to visit the boutique on location, the souvenir program
has developed an E-Boutique, www.parl.gc.ca/boutique where a sampling
of the boutiques many products are offered.
—Toilets
VWC:
Amenities such as toilets and water fountains are available
in the Visitor Welcome Centre and outdoors, north of the West
block.
—Areas specifically for school visits, areas for Members
of Parliament to receive their constituents
VWC:
The Visitor Welcome Centre is a general meeting area where
school groups may meet their tour guide prior to embarking on
a tour. This area may also be used as a space where school groups
may meet with their MP.
Is there a link to the main Parliamentary building?
VWC:
The main Visitor Welcome Centre is located within the Centre
Block of Parliament Hill. There are also additional services offered
within the East Block—Seasonal (summer) tours including
four historically recreated rooms.
PHWC:
Based on analysis, our new centre will be most effective
if it remains in close proximity to the buildings. The location
would support the efficient provision of visitor services and
limit the impact of visible building infrastructure in the landscape.
This approach would also support the security objective of consolidating
the screening outside of the buildings.
Does the public have to go through the Centre to reach the
Parliament?
VWC:
The visitor centre is within the Parliament buildings. Visitors
going on a tour must pass through the Visitor Centre security
in order to enter the Centre block, where they are to wait for
their tour to depart.
PHWC:
The future welcome centre will require the public go through
the centre to reach the Parliament.
How many staff does the Centre have?
VWC:
Public Programs Staffing
| Public Programs: | Management
| Full Time | Part time (seasonal)
|
| Publications Program | 1 |
1 | 1-2 temps hired, on occasion, when required.
|
| Education Outreach Program | 1
| 3 | 1-2 temps hired on occasion, when required.
|
| Tour Program | 1
| 11 | Summer Guides: 39 Centre Block Guides, 8 East Block Guides. Fall Guides:
|
| Retail Program | 1
| 2 | Up to 18 part time staff, depending on the time of year.
|
| Interpretation and Evaluation (exhibitry) |
1 | 1 | 0 |
| Public Engagement | 1 | 2
| 0 |
| Additional staff (including director, associate director, and admin staff)
| 2 | 6 | 1-2 temps hired, on occasion, when required.
|
| | |
|
How many of the staff are exclusive to the Centre, or do some
have duties elsewhere?
VWC:
The majority of staff are located across the street from
the Parliament Buildings and the Visitor Welcome Centre. Although
none of our staff work exclusively in the centre, our staff does
support the centre and a portion of job duties are within the
centre. The Tour program staffing includes "Interpretation
Officers" who rotate in the Kiosk in the visitor welcome
centre. There is also an interpretation officer station within
the Library. Both of these roles is to help orient visitors and
answer questions. On a given day, there will be approximately
two Interpretation Officers in the Kiosk, one within the Library
of Parliament, two guides assisting at the Peace Tower, as well
as a variety of tour guides offering tours to visitors.
Within the Visitor Welcome Centre there are also several
security staff at the Kiosk as well as at the security scanners.
How much did the Centre cost to establish?
What is its annual running cost?
Our tours programs has an annual budget of: $1,053,800.00
(cdn), which includes all expenses related tour the tour program.
To maintain the centre, our annual budget for exhibitry is:
$39,200.00 (cdn) which include the centres exhibitry and signage
(indoors and outdoors).
Have you undertaken any research or surveys of visitors to
get their views of the visitor centre?
VWC:
Not specifically. On a regular bases we have performed Visitor
Intercept Survey's—these studies assessed whether or not
the current programming is effective in relaying the messages
of the Library of Parliament (indoor programming) and the National
Capital Commission (outdoor programming) and in meeting the expectations
of the independent visitors to the site. The study contained a
wealth of information on the visitors' experience of Parliament
Hill and particularly on the effectiveness of the messaging, as
well as a detailed visitor profile.
We also offer daily comment cards and program specific surveys
(ie: Elementary Tour survey) which allow visitors to offer specific
comments (whether positive or negative).
Three or four years ago we did perform an analysis of visitor
use.
PHWC:
This year, a feasibility study was completed. This study
documents the functional program requirements for a new Parliament
Hill Welcome Centre. It investigates the physical requirements
to accommodate the security screening of visitors to the building
and, if required, to the grounds. In addition it explores the
potential locations for the PHWC through a detailed location analysis.
Do you advertise your visitor centre, for example on the Internet,
through the media or by leaflets or posters?
We do not advertise our visitor centre specifically. Our
programs have user friendly URLs that offer additional information
pertaining to the services/products that we offer.
Visitor Information: www.parl.gc.ca/vis
Boutique: www.parl.gc.ca/boutique
Publications: www.parl.gc.ca/publications
We also promote our services through various weekly publications/newspapers
in the city of Ottawa. The goal of these weekly promotions is
to manage expectations of visitors.
What do you think are the key things that make your visitor
centre successful?
We are able to offer some introduction to Members work, our
facility is more welcoming than what was previously available,
our centre is effective in marshalling a tour group waiting to
leave.
What could we learn from your experience?
1—Space: Be sure to establish a centre that
is spacious enough to offer all amenities you require as well
as meet demands of your visitors.
2—Security: When planning your visitor centre,
ensure that you take into careful consideration the security requirements
and logistics. The "flow" of the security screening
area will be a key element to the success of your visitor centre.
10 August 2006
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