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Tourists in Copenhagen using sustainable mobility, Source: Depositphotos

Copenhagen rewards 'green-acting' tourists with free perks

Copenhagen rewards 'green-acting' tourists with free perks

An innovative scheme to encourage foreign visitors to experience sustainable tourism firsthand and to understand the environmental-friendly attitude of Danish society

Copenhagen doesn’t just hope that tourists will act more sustainably when they drop in for a visit. The Danish capital now actively encourages them to do so with its new ‘CopenPay’ scheme, which rewards various ‘green’ behaviours with a variety of perks ranging from free lunches to free museum admissions.

"With CopenPay, we’re empowering people to experience more of what Copenhagen offers while placing less burden on our planet. It's about creating meaningful and memorable experiences that are enjoyable and environmentally responsible,” explains Mikkel Aarø Hansen, CEO of Wonderful Copenhagen.

CopenPay will begin operating on 15 July, however, future tourists can already begin educating themselves about the benefits they can enjoy from it if they decide to get more into that green Danish mindset about doing things. The initiative’s website features an interactive map which pins all the participating attractions where visitors can lend some of their time and help for a climate-friendly action. The map also describes the reward they can expect.

For instance, you can borrow a free kayak if you commit to picking up waste that you encounter in the harbour. You can feel great in the knowledge that even by visiting you’ve done your small part to keep Copenhagen waters pristine.

When in Copenhagen, do like the Copenhageners

According to the Global Destination Sustainability Index, Copenhagen is ranked the third most sustainable destination in the world. However, to keep it this way it shouldn’t only be the priority of its residents but also of its visitors. After all, it’s the latter who gets to enjoy the fact that it’s a high-quality sustainable destination.

In that sense, the scheme borrows the concept of environmentally conscious free help in exchange for free perks from volunteering programmes, such as WWOOF, HelpX or WorkAway that encourage these kinds of exchanges between visitors and locals.

The aim of CopenPay is not to boost tourism to the Danish capital but to make it more self-aware and to show visitors from other countries practical things they could implement back home in order to make their cities sustainable destinations as well.

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