Doyle to Close Welcome Centers

Good.  Shut them down. 

The eight Wisconsin Welcome Centers, where visitors have long stopped to pick up information about Wisconsin Dells, state parks and other attractions, could be closed by May under Gov. Jim Doyle’s budget proposal. The shutdown will help the Department of Tourism, which operates the centers, cut $1.7 million from its upcoming two-year budget.

The Welcome Centers have eight full-time and five part-time employees, along with 30 seasonal workers, according to the department’s budget summary. The centers include rest stops operated by the Department of Transportation, which will determine whether to keep that function open.

Fewer tourists have been stopping at the centers in recent years, and have been instead getting information from the Internet. The department’s Web site, travelwisconsin.com, has seen consistent traffic increases over the past five years, according to the budget summary.

I’ve never understood these things.  Same with rest stops.  Perhaps there was a time for them, but in the age of the internet and a gas station on practically every exit, it seems pointless.