In advance of International Sustainability Day on 26th October, Game of Thrones Studio Tour in Northern Ireland has won the UKInbound Sustainable Tourism Provider of the Year award.
Recognised as a ‘world-class ultra-low carbon visitor attraction’, the immersive tourist destination invites fans of TV and film to go behind the scenes and discover the artistry that went into making the TV phenomenon.
The tour hosts more than 150 iconic screen-used costumes, as well as original props, weapons, jewellery, and dramatic sets such as Winterfell, Dragonstone, Kings Landing, and of course, the globally recognised one and only original Iron Throne.
Located Linen Mill Studios in Banbridge, County Down (the principal film studio for Game of Thrones), The visitor attraction sits on a net-positive biodiversity 30-acre site, with a further 90-acre encompassed by a land management plan which includes a wildflower meadow, bird and bat boxes, rewilding areas, tree planting, composting, and herb garden.
Community beehives and a raft of other sustainability measures are set to be introduced to the site in 2024.
The Studio Tour’s original film sets and assets are protected within the 110,000 sq. ft visitor experience by an HVAC system with close temperature and humidity control, sensible and latent heat recovery, free cooling and a modular zero-carbon heating system with energy storage.
The UKInbound judging panel were impressed by several aspects of a Sustainable Management plan and the scale of future aspirations.
A key part of our new sustainability strategy, is to showcase our member businesses who are doing great work to reduce energy usage and protect and regenerate the environment.
In the future, we will use the practices and initiatives used by Game of Thrones Studio Tour to inspire our other members to take similar action in their businesses.”
Game of Thrones Studio Tour’s Executive Director, David Browne, adds: “We’re thrilled that progress on our sustainability journey has been recognised with this prestigious award by UKInbound.
"Our ultimate vision for the Game of Thrones Studio Tour is for our visitors to continue making lifelong memories experiencing, dining on our locally sourced and prepared food, shopping, refuelling, and recharging, all carbon and guilt-free, with those valuable tourism and supplier revenues retained and recycled within our economy for the benefit of all our citizens.
"That makes good business sense for us, but it is also the right thing to do for future generations.”
