Referreport
Tourism can have a massive impact on the environment for the destinations. One city has therefore come up with a very special concept: in Copenhagen, there are now gifts for travelers who behave in an environmentally friendly way.
A vegetarian meal for helping out in the community garden, a museum visit for arriving by bike: The Danish city of Copenhagen wants to reward travelers for environmentally friendly behavior in the future, as the city’s tourism office, Wonderful Copenhagen, announced in a statement. The pilot project called “CopenPay” is scheduled to start on July 15 and will initially last until August 11.
Project aims to change travellers’ attitudes
“It is necessary to To change the attitude of tourists and promote environmentally friendly choices,” the tourism association writes in the statement. The aim of the new project is to encourage tourists to make sustainable choices and perhaps even contribute to a better holiday experience in Copenhagen.
Travelers can see the 24 rewards offered by the project in a map on the project website. The tourist office also lists the conditions. Most rewards are for travelling on foot, by bike or by public transport – but collecting rubbish is also rewarded. The system is based on trust, emphasised Rikke Holm Petersen, head of communications at Wonderful Copenhagen in an interview with the BBC. For some activities, however, it may be necessary to show a photo of yourself cycling or your train ticket. According to Petersen, the participating companies will not be financially compensated by the city of Copenhagen.
To the card: Which places in Copenhagen are taking part in the campaign can be seen this map.
Mayor of Copenhagen is enthusiastic
“It is a core task for us to To make travel sustainable. And we will only succeed in doing this if we bridge the huge gap between visitors’ desire to act sustainably and their actual behavior,” emphasizes Wonderful Copenhagen’s managing director, Mikkel Aarø-Hansen. It is an experiment and a small step towards a new mentality among travelers.
Copenhagen Mayor Sophie Hæstorp Andersen was enthusiastic: “I am very pleased about an initiative like CopenPay, which combines our rich cultural life with a strong commitment to sustainability,” she said, according to the statement.
Sources used: Press release Wonderful Copenhagen, BBC
Source: German