Claire Copeman, founder of Adventure Tours UK, and Mark Wright, founder of The Adventure Connection, will embark on the 13-and-a-half hour journey to Lugano on Saturday (1 October) ahead of the summit over 3-6 October.
Copeman will actually start her journey on Friday (30 September) with a four-hour train ride from North Wales to Winchester, where she will meet up with Wright to begin their sustainable road trip.
Together, they will then drive to Folkestone to take the Eurotunnel to Calais, before making a number of charging stops ahead of their overnight stop in Reims. They will then take on the final stretch of the journey to Switzerland.
According to data compiled by carbon consultation firm ecollective, the pair will each produce just 80kg of carbon for the entire round trip, opposed to the 350kg they would each produce if they drove to an airport, flew to Switzerland, and then took a train to the event.
"We are a sustainable travel company and we want to practise what we preach," Copeman told TTG. "It has been in our DNA from the beginning.
"It will be the first time I’ve travelled out of the country in a few years, and it just felt so wrong to get on a plane when we want to be a company that leads by example, which is far more powerful than just talking about it.
"I think it will be much more enjoyable, and isn’t that what travel is all about? It is about the journey and not just the destination."
Copeman said she was initially apprehensive about taking the trip on her own, over fears for her safety as a solo traveller. "I really didn’t want to go with the flight option, but I was a little nervous about doing it all on my own," she said
"I then got in touch with Mark who was planning to drive the journey in his electric car, which is very low in terms of carbon emissions compared to flying. I’m really proud we are doing this. I was on the fence about it, as it was looking challenging to do on my own, but I’m really glad we found each other to do this as a team."
Copeman added she hoped the pair’s journey would encourage other travel industry professionals to consider more sustainable travel options when the opportunity arises.
