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Visit Hamilton, Ohio welcome center in city’s downtown to close.Visit Hamilton, Ohio, formerly the Hamilton Welcome Center, will shut down its location at the corner of High and Second streets on June 30.The decision was made by the center’s board at its most recent meeting May 27, according to Mark Motz, who joined the board in 2022 and was elected board chair in March.“We just felt that the board had accomplished what it had wanted to accomplish in raising visibility of Hamilton, and that we, the board, had kind of run its course,” Motz said.City officials said the small percentage of funds being allocated to Visit Hamilton, Ohio, will now go to Travel Butler County.The Hamilton Welcome Center got its start in 2005 at 1 High St.In 2023, it moved to 162 High St.and changed its name to Visit Hamilton, Ohio.Visitors to that space at 162 High St., next to Alexander’s Market and Deli can peruse and take away flyers, maps, booklets and brochures filled with information about local attractions and events happening around town and talk with volunteers about the city’s offerings.Pat Arnold, Visit Hamilton, Ohio’s executive director and its only paid employee, said moving to the new larger location was good for the visitor center.“Last year, we (had) more than 1,000 people come through … some days none, and some days a lot, but I think people did really like it,” Arnold said.“Hamilton is just blossoming like a flower.” Hamilton Director of Economic Development Mallory Greenham told Journal-News visitor traffic at the welcome center was “relatively low” and the way travelers research destinations and plan trips has “changed significantly." “Most visitors are gathering information online before they arrive in a community rather than stopping at a physical visitor center once they are already here,” Greenham said.Greenham said that, given this reality, it makes sense to direct available resources to Travel Butler County, which already manages the majority of the marketing and tourism efforts for the region.“Rather than paying for overhead associated with maintaining a space that sees limited use, those dollars can be invested in broader tourism promotion and visitor attraction efforts,” she said.Greenham said that Travel Butler County is in the best position to maximize the impact of every bed tax dollar collected, a portion of which went to Visit Hamilton, Ohio.“We view this not as a reduction in service, but as a natural evolution in how tourism marketing is delivered and how visitors engage with destination information today,” she said.As for the center’s closing at month’s end, Arnold said, “I’m just sad to hear it.I wish we had had a little more notice.” She said she and the center’s 20 volunteers enjoy having conversations with visitors and residents and helping them enhance their Hamilton experience.“A lot of people have asked, ‘Which restaurant do you think we'd like best?’ ‘What would you do first?’ ‘Tell me about Pyramid Hill and is it worth going to?’ That kind of thing,” Arnold said.“I’m really sad that that's not going to occur, but maybe the city will think about that, and come around and reopen it at some other time.” Arnold said most of the center’s volunteers are retired teachers or have had roles in city government and are “very knowledgeable” about the city.“So many people that come in are from Butler County and even from Hamilton and have no idea where some of the great places are to go and learn about our town like the historical society, the architecture that the city has, the different neighborhoods, all of the 17Strong events,” Volunteer Nancy Follmer said.“We really talk all those things up, and it's just sad that we're going to lose that opportunity.”