What is Cumbria Tourism doing?
Just to put things into perspective, the Northwest Regional Development Agency's strategy for tourism aims for "all activity related to tourism and the visitor economy to be based on the principles of sustainable development".View Tourism Strategy
The Tourism Strategy for Cumbria, "Making the Dream a Reality" has sustainability at its core.
In March 2009, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport published a key document, "Sustainable Tourism in England: A Framework for Action", which sets out six challenges for the English tourism
Industry
- Minimising environmental impact and resource use
- Addressing the impact of tourism transport
- Improving quality and making holidays accessible to all
- Improving the quality of tourism jobs
- Maintaining and enhancing community prosperity and quality of life
- Reducing the seasonality of demand
Cumbria Tourism, along with 48 other local organisations has formally pledged to play its part in cutting carbon emissions by 25% by 2014, by signing the Cumbria Climate Change Commitment. You can also view our Environmental Policy and if you would like to adapt this for your own business, you are welcome to use this as an example.
Converting this policy into tangible action will touch the work and activities of everyone at Cumbria Tourism and our wider membership - and we hope our actions will influence others. We have prepared a Sustainable Tourism Action Plan which sets out actions grouped under five broad themes:
- Accreditation
- Business Development Support
- Marketing and Product Development
- Destination Management and Planning
- Advocacy and PR
To demonstrate our commitment and lead by example, Cumbria Tourism participated in the Green Tourism Business Scheme Audit for our organisational headquarters, in Staveley. We were very pleased to receive a Gold Award in this scheme. Cumbria Tourism scored highly for low-energy lighting, heating, recycling and reducing the production of paper publications, waste and recycling materials, using local food producers as well as financially-supporting Visitor Payback schemes like the Tourism and Conservation Partnership. We also scored for its green action plan, green policies and environmental awareness among staff, as well as its work with the Bassenthwaite Stillwaters Partnership and supporting Cumbria outdoor education programmes for school children.
Responsible Visitor Charter; Cumbria Tourism has produced a Responsible Visitor Charter, which encourages everyone who visits the county to respect the environment and think about how they can "leave a smaller footprint". If you would like to adapt this for your own use, please feel free to do so. Download Responsible Visitor Charter
