Sustainable tourism awards longlist unveiled

Rail OTA, UK Destination and car-share scheme in longlist of prize contestants

Now in their fourth year, the Awards celebrate the achievements of pioneering travel initiatives in the UK, France and Belgium, which encourage people to adopt more sustainable ways of travelling, helping improve quality of life whilst reducing congestion, pollution, and CO- emissions.

In addition to prize money, winners are offered a package of benefits including a platform to promote their work; a short film showcasing the sustainable travel scheme, introductions to policymakers, potential funders and investors, as well as access to the prestigious Ashden Alumni network.

Nicolas Petrovic, Chief Executive of Eurostar, said; "Yet again we have been very impressed by the high calibre of entries. By celebrating the most innovative sustainable travel initiatives across the markets we operate in, we want to encourage more people to adopt environmentally friendly modes of transport, and really put sustainable travel in the spotlight."

The longlist is as follows:

UK

BikeRight!  – Stimulating interest in sustainable travel through participatory initiatives.

Loco2  – A website to simplify the booking process for trains in Europe.

Reading Buses  – Bus service which uses gas that is carbon neutral and sustainably sourced.

University of Exeter  – Has implemented a wide range of incentives, measures and projects to encourage the uptake of sustainable and active modes of travel.

Visit Isle of Wight  – Car free travel promotions and holiday experiences.

Yomp   – Provides an online platform and supporting app proven to increase sustainable travel by engaging employees.

France

Les Bôites a Vélo  – Collective in Nantes for businesses operating on cycles, which support each other and obtain commercial advantage by using box-bikes.

Mountain Wilderness  – A programme to encourage the use of existing public transport to travel to and within the mountains.

Belgium

Province of West Flanders  – Offers local business employees sustainable transport to test on their way to and from work.

Tapazz   – Allows you to share a car with others when you’re not using it, by renting it out to the community.

The Eurostar Ashden Awards for Sustainable Travel are part of Eurostar’s Tread Lightly programme to reduce the business’ impact on the environment and encourage people to switch to more sustainable modes of transport. Since 2007, Eurostar’s Tread Lightly programme has made substantial progress towards a ‘ten point plan’ to reduce consumption, source responsibly and recycle and have successfully reduced CO- emissions per traveller journey by 15%.

 For further information and to apply for a 2015 Eurostar Ashden Award for Sustainable Travel, visit http://www.ashden.org/apply/travel and to discover more about Eurostar’s Tread Lightly programme, visit http://www.eurostar-csr.com/en/

Valere Tjolle

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