PEOPLE visiting Worcester will be able to get information on the city and its attractions from VIPs thanks to the introduction of a new scheme.

Visitor information patrollers (VIPs) are being tested for the first time by VisitWorcester, which runs tourism, events, and city centre management, with the aim of providing more information to tourists.

Visitor centre manager Alexandra Syrotiuk said: “Over the next two weeks, with the Three Choirs Festival and the Worcester Festival overlapping, we will see an increase in visitor numbers to the city.

“The purpose of the visitor information patrollers is to get out among the visitors as a first point of contact for information such as visitor maps, directions to attractions, car parks, and the bus and train stations.”

Anna Huber and Ellen Krebsbach, who are from Stuttgart in Germany, are taking up the challenge for three weeks on a work placement from Principia School of Language. Both ladies, who speak English and German, have been working in the tourist information centre and gaining in-depth knowledge of the city centre and upcoming festivals over the last week.

If people need further information the VIPs will direct them to the tourist information centre in the High Street for services such as booking accommodation, local event information and programmes, coach and day trip tickets, as well as gifts and souvenirs.

If the scheme takes off and the patrollers are well used, VisitWorcester said it will look at providing this service at festivals and events in the city at other times of year, such as the Victorian Christmas Fayre.

The VIPs will be easy to spot around the city because they will be wearing T-shirts with the VisitWorcester logo on the front and visitor information patroller in large print on the back. The shirts were provided courtesy of the new Reindeer Court business Greetings 2 Treasure.