First the good news. VisitScotland, in its latest news release to the publishing nation, “Destination Helensburgh”, describes our town as “a remarkable destination, steeped in heritage and culture”.

Also there are the usual helpful footnotes for editors including some interesting information about The Clock Tower, our now closed tourist information centre.

The release advises that (a) The Clock Tower has not been a VisitScotland information centre for the last three years, yet (b) it is owned by VisitScotland and currently being sold by them as no longer relevant to their strategic plan.

It was, they emphasise, merely an information point in partnership with URTV Helensburgh & Lomond. “VisitScotland provided signage and collateral to URTV to support them.” Indeed it did. Lots and lots of leaflets with the VisitScotland logo for instance. Why, you might almost have thought it was their own wee place. As, technically, and in terms of its imminent disposal, it is.

But fear not. There is a new strategic plan. A plan with lots of partnerships. Some of them you may just have heard of. Like Google, and Booking.com and Trip Advisor – partners with whom most of the touring public are already in personal, um, partnership. Via their laptop.

Howandsoever VisitScotland now appreciate how much knowledge we acquire online, which is why the new plan also flags up their iKnow Scotland site where information can be both uploaded and accessed by those in the know, and those in need of local knowledge and info.

So, as suggested, I popped on to their community site. Having just come back from the capital, I thought I’d check out their “top tips for the Edinburgh Festival” in case I’d missed out on some really hot inside knowledge.

Let me give you a flavour – in their own words:

- Bring a bag for all the flyers you’ll pick up and keep a hold of them. You can look through them when you get a minute and decide what takes your fancy. (presumably unless you’re on that new fangled online thingy)

- Wear comfy shoes – a day at the festivals can mean lots of walking.

- Bring water.

- Be careful when crossing roads. Like all major cities, Edinburgh’s streets can be busy and the trams move especially quietly.

We can only assume VisitScotland think our visitors to be particularly dim, so heaven knows how they managed to get all the way here under their own steam.

But, in fairness, that is but one facet of the new look. In order to harness local knowledge they are creating an ambassador corps of local enterprises who will serve as, er, information points for their customers. This VisitScotland Information Partner programme (VIP) has already signed up a number of restaurants, pubs, B&Bs and a caravan park.

This is fine and probably dandy, not least as the establishments in question undoubtedly have a deal of local information to impart, and passing this on to their client base comes under the heading of enlightened self interest, from which Helensburgh and the surrounding area benefits. But however civic minded they are it’s not easy to suppose they will be enthusiastically promoting rival concerns.

What is missing from the equation is a dedicated destination where tourists can drop in and access online information for themselves, not just from the VisitScotland site – be right careful crossing that road now – but from hoteliers, outdoor centres, sporting activities, events promoters and everyone else in the hospitality and leisure sectors.

One interested party I spoke to suggested the ideal location might be a discrete space inside the new civic centre. Which would have the merit of being centrally located and a one stop shop.

Meanwhile if The Clock Tower doesn’t go to a commercial buyer it seems it might be available at a discount to a community buyer. Just saying.