Sustainability is well and truly the issue of our times. While so many in the industry worry about how best to bring this idea into the places they represent, one English region has simply chosen to embed sustainability into the very fabric of its destination. It’s time to meet the winner of our 2025 “Sustainability Award,” recognising an organisation that has turned this concept into tangible reality, all while improving both its visitor offering and the lives of those who reside in this part of England.
Finalists: Cotswolds Tourism, Cumbria Tourism, and Visit West
Winner: Cumbria Tourism
The challenge of perception
When it comes to sustainability, Cumbria Tourism — the local visitor economy partnership (LVEP) responsible for promoting the Lake District — has set a two-pronged goal. Firstly, by 2030, it is seeking a 15% increase in the number of visitors arriving to the region by public transport. Secondly, once visitors arrive, it is looking to boost the usage of sustainable modes of travel —including public transport — from 28% to 40%.
As we’ll explore, this goal of sustainable travel has been, until now, hampered by a perception of the region as a place that is both hard to reach and difficult to explore by public transport. These aims look to counter those impressions while easing the traffic congestion and parking issues experienced throughout the area, both of which have a negative impact on local people and visitors alike.
A comprehensive campaign to change minds
In order to overcome these issues, Cumbria Tourism partnered with local transport providers to create the “Let’s Go Car Free Campaign.” As the organisation states in its entry submission for this category, this campaign “provided ideas and information to help visitors journey to and within Cumbria to improve their experience and reduce pressures on the environment.” This was a strategy deeply rooted in data, using the LVEP’s visitor survey (April-October 2022) as the benchmark for the campaign.
Conducted every three years — and currently underway at the time of writing — the results of the 2022 survey indicated that just 9% of visitors arrived in the region by public transport. Additional research by the LVEP indicated that in order to increase the use of public transport by travellers, it was necessary to challenge the conventional perception that public transport through the area involved long, cumbersome journeys.
Deploying smart strategies to inspire and excite
With this in mind, the LVEP embedded car free messaging on its website, ensuring that visitors were aware of all the options to get to and around the region. The campaign landing page “clearly displayed journey times from target cities, i.e. London, Manchester, and Liverpool,” dispelling misconceptions about journey times.
The LVEP added that, “To provide further inspiration for a car free visit, the landing page included an inspiration grid that linked to information on public transport, things to do, places to eat, and accommodation. Car free itineraries were also written to help visitors plan their stay.” The content of this page was also supported through digital advertising, social media, and a raft of e-newsletters.
Going one step further, the organisation arranged press visits for journalists and social media influencers. “Influencers provided great video content on their train and bus journeys, again clearly demonstrating the ease of arriving by train and exploring by bus and train,” the LVEP said in their award submission. “The messaging included 'make the journey part of the experience' and a suite of campaign assets were also developed to advertise journey times.”
On the back of all of this, competitions were deployed via the visitlakedistrict.com microsite to further spotlight this comprehensive campaign. As part of this, member businesses belonging to the wider Cumbria Tourism network were encouraged to participate by providing offers and discounts for those arriving and touring the region by public transport.
Gauging impact, measuring results
Through these combined efforts, the LVEP was able to “build awareness and reinforce the positive message of travelling by public transport,” all while achieving tangible and measurable results for both the region’s residents and its visitors.
The campaign landing page was visited by 150,000 users and was frequently in the top three most visited pages on visitlakedistrict.com. What’s more, while the campaign achieved a PR reach of 90.7 million in one year, coverage in major UK media outlets — like The Guardian and The Telegraph as well as regional and local press — all helped further Cumbria’s message of sustainable travel. On the back of this, the LVEP also reports that local transport operators registered a substantial increase in passengers.
But for the LVEP, perhaps the biggest success of all is that “Cumbria Tourism challenged the perception that Cumbria was difficult to reach by public transport. An awareness campaign supported by content generated by social media influencers demonstrated how easy the county is to reach and travel around by train and bus.” This campaign, says the team, “has been so successful that a new phase was launched in February 2025 in partnership with two new transport operators and is currently ongoing.”
Praising Cumbria’s efforts, one member of the judging panel said, “It's so well integrated into the messaging that it can become a part of the name of the destination.” Kudos to you, Cumbria! And if you’re ready for more good news, be sure to stick around to see who came top in our “Accessibility Award” category.
