Lake District attractions use future to communicate the past

Heritage will blend with state-of-the-art technology at two Lake District tourist attractions in 2012, as both Ullswater Steamers and the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway make their communications cutting-edge and more environmentally friendly at the same time.

For the first time, the two attractions, both part of the Lake District Estates group, will have their 2012 leaflets carrying QR codes.  These can be scanned by anyone with an iPhone, who will then be taken direct to the events bookings page at the relevant website. There, they can book their tickets for scheduled cruises, special events and wildlife experiences at the touch of a few buttons.

Ullswater Steamers will also be using QR codes at its pier houses at both Glenridding and Pooley Bridge, to provide iPhone users with a means of accessing a commentary to accompany their cruise on the lake.  An MP3 version of the commentary will also be available for download at www.ullswater-steamers.co.uk

In this way, the Steamers can replace the existing commentary handsets, which had to be hired and which only numbered 10 in total.  The environmentally unfriendly plastic devices will be replaced with paperless, plastic-free, digital means of communication, which are free to use.

Ullswater Steamers is building on an impressive environmental track record, which has seen it become a Highly Commended runner-up in the national Virgin Responsible Tourism Awards and the North West’s Sustainable Tourism award winner.  It will be competing for a top national accolade for its environmental practices at the Enjoy England awards in 2012.  It also has Gold CBEN (Cumbria Business Environment Network) status.

Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway has recently appointed an environmental champion from amongst its staff and is working towards its first CBEN accreditation this year.

Lake District Estates group marketing manager, Rachel Bell, says: “Our two heritage attractions, which have hundreds of years of history behind them, are going to be delivering their exquisite and atmospheric glimpses of the past in a totally modern and state-of-the-art way when it comes to communications and booking.

“To back up our new initiatives, we will be creating new websites for both attractions and maximising our profile by using the most successful aspects of social media.  With reference to the past, we are looking towards the future and, as we always have done, moving with the times”.