Copenhagen is rewarding well-behaved tourists

Wherever you go, you find different customs, even when it comes to welcoming tourists. While in Venice, last April, paid weekends began for entering the city, and in Barcelona, citizens are protesting in the city center against overtourism, an initiative of distinctly Nordic nature is about to start in Copenhagen. Starting from July 15, tourists who demonstrate sustainable behavior during their stay in the Danish capital will be rewarded with free experiences, including museum tours, kayaking trips, free meals, and coffee (which, if you didn't know, is quite expensive in Denmark). The "green" activities promoted to visitors by the municipality include traveling by bicycle or public transport and caring for the cleanliness of public spaces by collecting litter or getting involved in volunteer activities at farms and agricultural businesses.

The new tourism initiative about to start in Copenhagen, and which will be in effect until August 11, is called CopenPay, but its purpose is not to encourage tourism, explained representatives of the regional tourism organization, Wonderful Copenhagen, but rather to promote respect for the environment and common spaces. «It's about creating meaningful and memorable experiences that are enjoyable and environmentally responsible,» reads the project's press release, which according to the results could extend throughout the year. «We must transform tourism from a burden on the environment to a force for positive change,» stated Mikkel Aarø-Hansen, CEO of the regional tourism organization Wonderful Copenhagen. «Changing the way we move, what we consume, and how we interact with locals» are all aspects that can influence our socio-environmental impact as travelers, he specified. The rewards can also be redeemed by residents, the press release continued, and to do so, they just need to upload physical proof of their civic engagement to the app, such as train tickets or photos showing them performing sustainable actions.

According to recent studies, 81% of consumers want to behave more responsibly towards the environment, but only 22% feel they have actually changed their habits in a green perspective. CopenPay aims exactly to solve this problem, making sustainable initiatives more attractive to tourists who want to save money, but also more fun. The rewards include, in addition to coffee dates and museum tours, a free descent from the artificial ski slope of CopenHill, available to those who travel there by train or bicycle, and a free lunch at the Copenhagen Surf School for all those who dedicate thirty minutes to beach cleaning after the course. The CopenPay pilot project currently includes more than twenty attractions. As Rikke Holm Petersen, head of communications at Wonderful Copenhagen, states: «imagine if we could send people home with a greener mindset: if that was their souvenir from Copenhagen, it would be fantastic.»