Venice’s new day-tripper fee, Barcelona’s impending ban on holiday rentals, and Mallorca’s restrictions on alcohol sales—popular European destinations are increasingly implementing various fees and restrictions in response to pollution and chaos caused by tourists. However, in the midst of these measures, Copenhagen is taking a different approach: rewarding responsible tourists.
Starting from July 15, the CopenPay project will offer climate-friendly travelers access to museum tours, canoe rentals, free meals, and more. By participating in the city’s green initiatives, such as cycling, train travel, and clean-up efforts, tourists can earn these rewards, showcasing Copenhagen’s commitment to sustainable tourism.
CopenPay rewards actions such as cycling, participating in cleanup efforts, or volunteering at urban farms with access to a variety of enriching experiences and everyday wonders of Copenhagen. This includes complimentary guided museum tours, free kayak rentals, and even a free vegetarian lunch made from local crops.
For instance, visitors arriving at the National Gallery of Denmark with plastic waste are invited to a workshop to turn it into a piece of art. Similarly, taking public transport or a bike to Copenhagen’s iconic heating plant grants a unique experience of skiing down its slope on the building’s roof.
“It is a core task for us to make travelling sustainable. And we will only succeed if we bridge the large gap between the visitors’ desire to act sustainably and their actual behaviour. It might sound simple, but it is not. We want visitors to make conscious, green choices and hopefully end up getting even better experiences while they visit. Through CopenPay we therefore aim to incentivize tourists’ sustainable behaviour while enriching their cultural experience of our destination. It is an experimental and a small step towards creating a new mindset amongst travellers and one among many initiatives we are doing to make travelling more sustainable”, says Mikkel Aarø-Hansen, CEO at Wonderful Copenhagen.
The simplicity of the system allows easy participation: tourists can show a train ticket, arrive on a bicycle, or present other simple proof of green actions to redeem their rewards. This summer, all tourists are invited to partake in CopenPay, with regular updates on available attractions and rewards at copenpay.com.
According to the 2023 sustainability report by London-based market research group Kantar, while 81% of consumers express a desire to behave more sustainably, only 22% have made significant changes. CopenPay seeks to bridge this gap by making sustainable actions rewarding and enjoyable.
Main Photo credit: VisitCopenhagen
