How to Promote Sustainable Travel to Your Event

What are sustainable travel options?

Before you can promote sustainable travel, you need to know what your options are. Arguably the most sustainable transport options are those considered ‘active’ travel. These are powered by people, not engines, and include:

• Walking.
• Cycling.
• Scooting.

Since these require no external intervention, they have the least impact on the environment – so you should make them a priority when considering sustainable travel to your event. 

Of course, for non-local visitors, those with additional mobility needs and/or other limitations, not all of these will be feasible (or indeed possible). Therefore, a secondary level of sustainable transport covers options that rely on alternative power sources, or increased carbon efficiency per passenger, such as:

• Using hybrid or electric vehicles.
• Car sharing.
• Public transport, including buses, trams and trains.

Electric vehicles, especially those charged via wind or solar electricity, release fewer harmful emissions than petrol-powered cars. This can help reduce the environmental impact of your event due to guest attendance.

Carsharing, or using public transport, is a more carbon-efficient way of travelling per passenger, especially when compared with private vehicles. This is because it reduces the overall number of vehicles on the road, sharing any emissions between multiple people.

Top tip: for inner city travel, using public transport can also be easier and cheaper as guests don’t need to worry about parking or navigating busy roads.

Why is sustainable travel important?

Sustainability strategies, including those around sustainable travel, are vital for the events industry to keep up with (and in some areas, lead) the discourse surrounding climate change and the future of the planet. By regularly participating in large-scale undertakings (often with high energy and material requirements), people within the events industry should lead by example and prioritise methods to improve sustainability from planning to execution of an event.

For example, here at ACC Liverpool, we have a clearly defined Sustainability Strategy designed to help us achieve a Net Zero status by 2030.

But, as we’ve mentioned, you shouldn’t limit yourself to the more obvious choices to improve the sustainability of an event – like recycling materials, using alternative energy sources, and using local catering and supplies where possible. Sustainable travel, whilst not always directly controllable by a venue or event organiser, is another vital part of reducing the overall emissions scope of your event. 

Interested in learning more about emissions scopes? Explore our guide to Scope 1, 2, and 3 Emissions.

Tips for promoting sustainable travel

As we’ve mentioned throughout, ensuring your guests use sustainable transport is not something you can completely control – but you can strongly encourage it as a more favourable option. Explore our tips and tricks below to find the best ways to promote sustainable travel to and from your event.

Highlight public transport options

One of the best ways to encourage people to use more sustainable transport methods is to highlight the available options in and around your venue – people can’t use something if they don’t know about it. There are several ways you can highlight possible sustainable travel options for your event, including:

• Provide links to local bus/tram/train timetables.
• Station volunteers to direct walkers to your venue.
• Include transport networks in your marketing efforts (for example, in an automated email after sign-up or ticket purchase).
• Direct local visitors to nearby bike or scooter rentals.
• Highlight possible pedestrian routes to your event venue.

Partner with local public transport networks

Another way to encourage sustainable travel through public transport is to work with local providers in your area for the duration of your event. This could involve offering discounts or redeemable vouchers to visitors with a valid public transport ticket – or offering discounted or free transport to your event after a ticket purchase.

For example, Exhibition Centre Liverpool, our sister site on the ACC Liverpool campus, has partnered with Merseyrail to offer free transport into Liverpool for Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience ticket holders. This offer allows people in and around Merseyside to get into Liverpool for the event via the train.

Choose a well-connected venue

Promoting sustainable travel is much easier at a well-connected venue. Whether this is in a city centre, like our own ACC Liverpool Campus, or as part of a larger public transport network (like many venues on the outskirts of London), having multiple travel options to your event is vital.

This will allow attendees to choose how they will arrive at your venue – either by walking, cycling, taking public transport, or (as a last resort) driving.

Top tip: choosing a well-connected venue will also help vendors and suppliers travel easily to and from your event. This can help to reduce supply emissions, especially if you choose logistics companies that prioritise sustainability (via electric vehicles, improved packaging etc).

Encourage carsharing

If you do host your event at a more isolated venue, or driving is the best choice for your attendees, make sure to promote the option of carsharing where possible. For example, if you’re hosting a professional event, encourage attendees from the same company to share a car to reduce emissions.

Offer incentives

Incentives are an excellent way to encourage people to choose one thing over another, and could go a long way to improving how many of your attendees use public transport or other sustainable travel options. These don’t need to cost the earth either. Some possible incentives you could offer include:

• A free hot drink or snack upon presentation of a bus/train ticket.
• A joint discount on event or transport tickets (as mentioned above).
• Discounted entry for groups/companies who carshare.
• Entry into a prize draw upon conclusion of your event.
• Discounted entry or early sign-up to your next event.

Top tip: leave a buffer in your budget to account for sustainable transport incentives.

Explain your reasoning

Improving the sustainability of events isn’t just down to event planners – it’s the responsibility of attendees too. One way you can promote sustainable travel therefore, is to explain your reasoning for encouraging these options.

Where possible, give facts and figures about the emissions of cars and private vehicles compared to buses, trains, and trams. For example, according to Government research a trip from London to Glasgow in a petrol car produces four times as much CO₂ per passenger as the equivalent journey in a coach.

Knowing information like this can help future attendees to be more aware about how their travel choices can affect their emissions footprint, and encourage them to make sustainable choices when travelling to your event.

Choose ACC Liverpool for your next event

If you’re looking for a well-connected venue for your next event, it doesn’t get much better than our superb campus here at ACC Liverpool. With easy connections across the country via train or coach, and only a short walk from Liverpool One Bus Station, Travelling Here to host your event at our venue is easy. Your attendees can not only arrive in style – but also enjoy everything our glorious city has to offer while they’re Visiting Liverpool.

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