In recent months, stories about tourism have taken a distinctly negative turn, from Amsterdam’s ban on cruise ships to Venice’s day-tripper entry fee to Italy's staggeringly high fines for vandalizing cultural sites. Earlier this month, holidaymakers in Barcelona were squirted with water pistols during a protest about short-term accommodation options like AirBnB making housing unaffordable for locals. (For the record, Spain’s tourism minister condemned the actions of the water gun-toting protestors, who were only a small minority of a much larger protest.)
Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, is taking a very different approach. Tourism is on the rise in Denmark, with 63 million overnight stays in the country in 2023, a 12.4% increase from 2019, the last pre-pandemic travel year. But rather than restricting visitors, the city’s tourism agency, Wonderful Copenhagen, is experimenting with a new initiative to reward good behavior. More than 20 companies have signed up to participate this summer in a new campaign called CopenPay.
The goal of CopenPay is to encourage visitors to act in positive, climate-friendly ways with the help of incentives and freebies offered by the participating companies. For example, riding a bike or taking public transportation will get you a free drink at the Level Six rooftop bar. Bring a reusable mug and get a complimentary hot beverage at the MACA Museum. Tourists who help with harbor cleanup efforts can enjoy a boat cruise from GoBoat Copenhagen, while the Copenhagen Surf School is offering a free lunch to tourists who collect litter on the beach. You can enjoy the Karen Blixen Museum without paying admission if you lend a hand in the museum's historic garden.
More about CopenPay:
- Although the implementation of CopenPay is a trial initiative running from July 15 to August 11, if successful, it could be reinstated next year with the involvement of additional local businesses.
- Most of the incentives operate based on the honor system, though visitors sometimes have to show evidence of their actions in the form of a photo or public transit ticket.
- According to Rikke Holm Petersen, Wonderful Copenhagen’s director of communications, “We want to turn tourism into a positive force for change in regards to sustainability, but we want tourists to have a memorable and fun experience as well.”
