HUNDREDS of businesses in the New Forest have been given|memory sticks full of free photos, maps and videos to show visitors they don’t need a car to see the best of the National Park.

Hotels, holiday parks and B&Bs made good use of last year’s memory stick for their websites and marketing, including copyright-free photos, videos and information on the open-top New Forest Tour, Twizy electric vehicles, trains, walks and family cycling.

Now 400 more memory sticks have been produced by the New Forest National Park Authority with new photos and videos ahead of the busy tourist season.

They include new services launched last year such as the blue route of the New Forest Tour, which takes in the coast and countryside in the south-west of the National Park, the Beach Bus which runs in the summer holidays from Hythe Ferry to Lymington, calling at Lepe Country Park, Exbury Gardens, Beaulieu and Buckler’s Hard and the New Forest Walking Festival, which is free or discounted for those who travel by bus, rail, bike or on foot during the autumn.

The memory sticks were funded from a £3.8 million Local Sustainable Transport Fund from the Department for Transport. The fund is shared between the New Forest and South Downs National Parks with the aim of encouraging 370,000 visitors to switch to car-free travel at each park by March 2015.

Julian Johnson, chairman of the New Forest National Park Authority, said: “We had great success last year with a record 40,000 passengers on the New Forest Tour and nearly 6,000 passengers on the Beach Bus in its first season.

“They’re not only fun, stress-free experiences, but help take cars off the roads.”

If your business would like a free memory stick email communications@newforestnpa.gov.uk.

For more information on car-free experiences visit www.newforestnpa.gov.uk/travel.