With summers in full swing, the UK festival scene attracts local and foreign tourists to enjoy the diverse culture and heritage. From the famous Cheshire’s local music, and Edinburgh’s signature Military Tattoo, to storytelling and the annual book fair, every city is known for its variety of culture-enriched activities.
This is a major opportunity for festival organisers and travel companies to tap into the wide consumers’ interest and provide tailored experiences. Similarly, businesses can leverage technology to organise eco-friendly events with minimal carbon emissions. Unfortunately, festivals and numerous tourist destinations are prone to falling under the pitfalls of air/noise pollution and plastic waste.
The world is already incorporating prominent measures against the hazards by reducing the carbon footprint and preserving the local heritage. There is a dire need for businesses to join the initiative for a good cause of protecting the natural habitat.
For that instance, festival companies must employ efficient and sustainable strategies without impacting the experience. Here are the numerous ways businesses can embrace technology and ensure sustainable festivals.
-
Focus On Sustainability
Today the world is facing a major challenge of the climate crisis, which is increasing the risk of an irreversible disaster. From rising global temperatures, and toxicity in the air, to urban flooding and changing weather patterns, we must play some part in slowing down climate change. Festivals are equally important as these activities allow communities to keep their diverse culture alive with music, food and dance.
That is why focusing on sustainable development is crucial to achieving an environmentally friendly activity. A gathering at a music festival will surely yield a lot of noise and carbon emissions with tourists travelling long distances. Festival businesses can utilise a variety of resources and tools to plan out the event around sustainability.
This includes digital booking, cashless payments, eco-friendly destinations, electrical transportation and much more. If your festival plan offers transportation services to the guests, you can opt for eco-friendly minibuses in Edinburgh to leave a minimal carbon footprint. It is because a minibus can cater to group transit, instead of individual transportation, which will eventually add up the carbon footprint.
-
Adopt Digital Transformation
Digital transformation is paving the way for a Net Zero carbon emission. While most businesses are still hesitant, digital products feature extraordinary capabilities for cutting down costs and maximising the consumer experience. This digitalisation was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent advent of Artificial Intelligence, providing positive results for business owners.
Firstly, it is easy to adapt to the digital age and secondly, it saves the cost of traditional strategies. Festival planners and companies can break into the norm of the digital age by diversifying different aspects, such as payment options with cashless payments and promoting eco-friendly events.
We have already learned that in-person festivals are not always important and festivalgoers can achieve the same experience through digital channels like social media. Conversely, organising a digital-only festival will not only drop the operational cost but can also aid in a sustainable and eco-friendly festival experience.
Virtual festivals significantly drop carbon emissions with zero transportation and accommodation for crowds. On top of that, virtual events are highly optimised to encourage audience engagement through live chats and community polls. In the end, every small gesture will have a long-lasting positive impact on slowing down the climate crisis.
-
Educating Tourists
Advocating for sustainable festivals is as important as crafting unique experiences for festivalgoers. With the ever-increasing challenge of climate change and the looming threat of disasters, we must look into the crucial need to restore the natural habitat.
This must start with educating tourists to be responsible for every destination and festival and minimise the wastage of resources and carbon emissions. Surprisingly, most tourists are aware of climate change but are not familiar with different strategies for making their travel more sustainable.
Businesses can organise workshops and eco-friendly tours to promote awareness of the looming environmental crisis among tourists. Plus, different exhibitions in museums, documentaries and digital resources can play a vital role in educating tourists on how to proactively secure the environment.
Communities should encourage tourists to engage in the productive activities of conserving natural resources like water and reducing plastic usage in festivals. Using biodegradable products and reducing water wastage can also go a long way in providing relief to the environment.
Additionally, communities can encourage upcycling waste tactics to slow down waste generation. The authorities in the UK are already promoting trends of zero waste tourism on social media to build widespread awareness as part of eco-friendly festivals.
-
Monitor Data To Expand Eco-Friendly Efforts
In the end, there is always room for improvement in efforts towards environmentally friendly festivals. Today businesses have access to a stream of data to devise lucrative strategies.
You can also strengthen your commitment towards eco-friendly leisure activities by monitoring the data available and implementing targeted campaigns to maximise the security of natural resources.
Why Does It Matter?
We can not imagine a world without natural resources like waterfalls, natural habitats and landfills of waste with climate crises disrupting lifestyles every year. That is why eco-friendly campaigns are becoming more important than before as climate disasters are ticking bombs with irreversible change.
However, making informed decisions for festivals and preserving historical architecture is the most sustainable approach to enjoying the cultural heritage without enforcing much impact on the environment.
