ALL options are on the table for the future of Bradford’s last Council-run tourist office, authority chiefs have said.

The Bradford Visitor Information Centre, in Broadway, will remain where it is until 2019 but its long-term future is under review as bosses decide how best to run the service in the digital age.

Last week, the Council’s Executive opted to push ahead with plans to transfer the running of the district’s three other information centres, in the tourist hotspots of Haworth, Saltaire and Ilkley, to other organisations amid cuts of three-quarters to its tourism budget.

The Bronte Society is taking on Haworth’s centre, while Ilkley Parish Council will run Ilkley’s office from the library rather than its current home in the town hall and Saltaire’s existing office in the Salts Mill complex will be replaced by a stall run by Shipley College in the reception area of Victoria Hall.

The number of redundancies has not yet been revealed, but some of the 17 Council staff working in its visitor centres could be transferred to the new organisations.

Now the authority has revealed more details about what might happen to its remaining office in the city centre in the coming years.

Councillor Sarah Ferriby, who oversees tourism, said they were looking to “forge a partnership” with an outside organisation in Bradford, similar to those formed in Ilkley, Haworth and Saltaire.

She said they had not yet decided whether Bradford’s tourist office would stay where it was or whether it would move to another venue.

And she said the planned changes to the Bradford office were not necessarily being driven by further cuts, saying they wanted to re-think the way they offered advice to tourists.

This could include having ‘pop-up’ information stands at big events across the district, possibly manned by volunteers, as well as more online promotional work.

A study by consultants Team Tourism has said that Bradford should aim to grow its visitor economy from its current level of £612m a year to £725m - a boost which would create an extra 1,650 jobs.

But it says people are moving away from traditional visitor centres and doing more of their research online. It calls for Bradford to use “more dynamic and proactive” models of marketing the district to tourists, including a better, mobile-friendly website and more social media work.

It says both Haworth and Saltaire have “both national and international appeal”, but perceptions of Bradford are “generally negative”.

It recommends making more of Bradford’s David Hockney links, its curry and craft ale offers and its programme of festivals, but says the key to bringing in more visitors will be continuing to develop the city centre, particularly its retail offer and evening economy.