By Isle of Wight Observer
An innovative scheme to encourage Isle of Wight visitors to choose eco-friendly is continuing to prove a success according to organisers.
The key card scheme for accommodation providers is run by Visit Isle of Wight in conjunction with Southern Vectis, The scheme encourages visitors to the Island to ditch the car and take a greener means of transport.
Now in it’s second year, the scheme continues to be a success. Over 2 and a half tonnes of carbon emissions have been saved during the 2017/18 period as holiday makers took up the scheme.
That equates to an incredible 14 000 kilometres of car journeys were saved, boosting the effort to even further improve air quality on the Isle of Wight.
Visit Isle of Wight’s partnership with Southern Vectis and accommodation providers across the island replaced approximately 1,200 individual car journeys last year with bus journeys, which allowed people to enjoy and explore the island in a more environmentally friendly way.
Visitor Travel Project Manager, Nicola Rogers, said: “The key card scheme is a way to encourage visitors to experience the buses on the island, it’s a way to reduce carbon emissions and ultimately remind people that they don’t need to bring their car to the island.
“It’s a win-win for everyone, it works for the bus company because they get more passengers, it works for us in terms of promoting that sustainable travel message and it works for the hoteliers and accommodation providers because they can offer their guests the key card free of charge and so guests see that as an added incentive to come.
“Tourists are much more aware of sustainability in general and I think they’re much more conscious of being able to visit different places in a sustainable way. So as well as having the environmental impact it also helps us to bring people to the island knowing that they can do that and they can take part in those activities.”
Isle of Wight Observer