The Danish capital Copenhagen has announced rewards for visitors who get involved in environmentally friendly activities during their trip. Turning sustainability into currency, the city’s tourist board is set to launch a trial scheme offering tourists freebies at 24 participating businesses in return for their green efforts.
Pastries, museum entries and kayaks
From 15 July, under the new “CopenPay” scheme, activities such as litter-picking, using public transport or cycling will qualify both visitors and local residents for a range of free treats including Danish pastries, free coffees, glasses of wine, and even kayak rentals.
Using the catchphrase, “Copenhagen attractions reward climate-friendly actions”, a website gives ideas for green activities and details on a map the places where the perks are being dished out, from rooftop bars to galleries and museums. None of the companies and museums involved in the scheme are being subsidised or reimbursed for the incentives they are putting on offer.
A free activity that's an adventure on the water and does good for the planet🌎 Sounds too good to be true right!? 🤪 It isn’t! Copenhagen founded Green Kayak lets you borrow a kayak for free if in return you collect a bucket of trash on the water♻️🌊 Now that’s a solid deal🌟 pic.twitter.com/STrYf9AoEW
— VisitCopenhagen (@VisitCopenhagen) August 23, 2020
Environmental offsetting
The idea behind the initiative is to promote ways tourists can compensate for the “burden” they put on the environment. The website notes that “All our choices have an environmental impact, so why not make conscious decisions that benefit us all and be rewarded for them?”
“When you travel abroad – if you fly to other places or you travel by car – you pollute. One of the things we can change is getting people to act more sustainably at the destination,” said Rikke Holm Petersen Wonderful Copenhagen’s communications director.
One interesting aspect of the scheme is that it is “trust-based” Petersen said, and would not require complicated proof that visitors are telling the truth about completing an eco-friendly task. “In some attractions you might have to show a picture of you riding a bike, or of your public transportation ticket,” she explained.
A green souvenir
Dubbing the idea a “little step towards the green transition”, Petersen acknowledged that only “a small percentage” of the city’s estimated yearly 12 million overnight guests would likely participate, especially as the reward programme is a pilot initially set to end on 11 August 2024.
However, if the response and results get positive reviews, CopenPay could become a year-long feature of visits to one of the capitals of Scandi cool, sending visitors back from Denmark’s first city with an unusual experience under their belts. “Imagine if we could have people taking a greener mindset back with them – if that was the souvenir they got – that would be amazing,” Petersen said.
