South East Wales Assembly Member Veronica German welcomed news that Monmouthshire Council will consult local groups as part of a review of its three tourist information centres.

Ms German has spoken out after learning that the authority wants to explore the best ways to spend money promoting Monmouthshire as a tourist destination and provide more web-based and interactive information services.

Recent findings revealed that more people are using the internet to find information about the area.

“The move will potentially have a significant impact on the economy of Monmouthshire as many businesses rely on the centres,” said Ms German.

“Indirectly, a huge amount of jobs are supported by tourism in the county.”

"I can understand that the council want to look at ways to make the service more technologically friendly and of course technology has a large role to play.

Nonetheless, I personally do not believe web-based tourist services are a better substitute for personal interaction and local knowledge. They should always complement a service, rather than replace it,” she added.

A spokeswoman for the council said: "As an authority, we have a duty to make sure that we are using our resources in the most effective way and we need to make maximum impact."

"To find out if we are using our resources in the right way we need to review our tourist information centres.”

"I accept that this is an unsettling time for the Tourist Information staff but I must emphasis that no decisions have been made at this stage."

The consultation will focus on centres in Abergavenny, Monmouth and Chepstow.