To get tourists to act more sustainably, Wonderful Copenhagen is launching a new initiative: Pay for a variety of Copenhagen attractions with climate-friendly actions. There is a need to change the mindset of tourists and encourage green choices. Data show a large willingness as 82% say they want to act sustainably, but only 22% have changed their behaviour.
This is why Copenhagen’s official tourism organisation introduces CopenPay – a new initiative transforming green actions into currency for cultural experiences. It is Copenhagen’s ambition to inspire visitors to make conscious green choices and help bridge the large gap between the desire to act sustainably and their actual behaviour.
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.
Launching with over 20 attractions this summer, CopenPay not only aims to enhance the guests’ local experience but also to inspire other destinations.
Find out more at Wonderful Copenhagen.
