Ahead of World EV Day this Friday 9 September and World Tourism Day later this month (27 September), Cumbria Tourism has teamed up with the Lloyd Motor Group to travel the length and breadth of the county in an electric vehicle – talking to a wide range of tourism businesses about their current concerns, challenges and opportunities.

This month also marks exactly 5 years since Gill Haigh took the helm as Managing Director and over the next four weeks, she will hit the road to visit tourism operators in as many locations as possible, from Sedbergh, Carlisle and the west coast to the Lake District, Morecambe Bay and many more.

Along the way, Gill will be joined by key tourism figures including Cumbria Tourism’s Chairman Dan Visser and President Jim Walker to speak directly to businesses on their home turf.

As well as getting to the heart of issues such as spiralling costs, recruitment challenges and staff housing, it’s also part of wider efforts to signpost leaner, greener ways of living and working.

Cumbria’s official Destination Management Organisation hopes the partnership with the Lloyd Motor Group will highlight the benefits of going electric – and help tackle some of the misconceptions around charging, battery reliability and range anxiety.

The tour in the electric BMW iX got underway with an official key-handover at Lloyd South Lakes BMW in Lindale today.

Managing Director of Cumbria Tourism, Gill Haigh, says, “I always enjoy getting out meeting businesses face-to-face, whether they are long-standing tourism operators or newer emerging companies wanting to forge new connections. Right now, there is deep-seated concern about skyrocketing costs and it is vital we get detailed feedback about what’s happening on the ground, in order to make the strongest possible case for support from high-level decision makers – not least to the new Prime Minister.

“Sustainable tourism is also an increasingly important focus for us and supporting our members to work in the most sustainable way they can is a key part of this. For instance, this latest initiative builds on a recent joint project between Cumbria Tourism and our Patrons Electricity North West to support small tourism operators wanting to provide electric vehicle charging for their visitors.

“A special thanks goes out to the Lloyd Motor Group, who have made this important county-wide tour possible.”

Local business development manager and EV expert, Jonathan Jeffery, says, “We are looking forward to working alongside Cumbria Tourism and assisting them on what will be a dynamic and forward-thinking project to futureproof the Cumbrian tourism industry and establish ourselves as industry leaders in sustainability.

“The future is definitely electric and here at Lloyd Motor Group we are committed to helping both customers and businesses make the switch. As the Government aims for an end to combustion engines by 2030, there is no better time to be learning more about EV’s.

“Across the month of September, we will be teaming up with Cumbria Tourism to bring you honest, down to earth commentary on what it’s like to be living with electric. Follow Lloyd Carlisle BMW, Lloyd Cockermouth BMW and Lloyd South Lakes BMW to find out what we’re getting up to.”