Edinburgh Bus Tours, part of the Lothian Buses family, has received a GOLD award for sustainable best practice from Green Tourism.

Green Tourism is the market leading sustainable tourism certification programme in the UK and Internationally.  To achieve an accreditation, businesses are graded by a qualified Assessor against a rigorous set of criteria that cover a range of areas such as energy and water efficiency, waste management, biodiversity and social involvement and communication.

Having recently invested £6.5m in a new fleet of environmentally friendly tour buses, Lothian Buses and Edinburgh Bus Tours prides themselves on their continued commitment to sustainability.

The all-new tour buses feature smaller engines for greater fuel efficiency and are Euro 6 standard.  The buses also have great facilities for wheelchair users, including and industry first, two wheelchair spaces enabling a first class tour experience for all.

Speaking about the latest award Jon Proctor, chief executive of Green Tourism and assessor, said,

This is a huge achievement for the team at Edinburgh Bus Tours, their increased commitment to sustainability is evident in the new fleet of buses and this GOLD award is testament to that.  Monitoring of energy, water, waste and fuel is very advanced and this has enabled the organisation to keep on top of long-term goals and meet targets.

Commenting on the gold accolade, Emma Roy, Environmental Officer for Lothian Buses said:

We are delighted to once again be recognised for our commitment to reducing our impact on the local environment. Our new fleet of Euro 6 tour buses form part of our overarching environmental strategy, across the Lothian Buses family of businesses, to cut our carbon footprint by 42% in line with the Scottish Governments 2020 Climate Change targets.