Travel by public transport and get free tickets with Copenhagen’s new green initiative for tourists

Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen, has launched a new initiative called CopenPay in an effort to promote sustainable tourism.

Tourists who choose to travel by public transport or bike without using cars or taxis will be rewarded with perks such as free coffee, museum admissions, and an extra 20 minutes' ski time on the slope of a heating plant.

“What we know is that there's a big gap between the tourists’ intention before [and after] they arrive and consume. We know that four out of five of us intend to act sustainably, but only one out of five of us actually does,” Mikkel Aarø-Hansen, CEO of Wonderful Copenhagen, the official tourism organisation of the Capital Region of Denmark, tells Euronews Green.

“Before we close that gap, we will not be able to create sustainable tourism. So the basic idea [of CopenPay] is to show people that climate actions are not that difficult. We can all do it. We all have a choice to act sustainably and climate-friendly. And there are many things we can do in Copenhagen to make a difference,” Aarø-Hansen adds.

Copenhagen's green scheme aims to bridge the intention-action gap

According to a report from Kantar, an international market research group, 82 per cent of respondents said they wanted to act sustainably, but only 22 per cent have actually changed their behaviour.

Wonderful Copenhagen stresses that CopenPay is designed to encourage sustainable behaviour “by transforming green actions into currency for cultural experiences” rather than drawing in more visitors.

“The idea is not to increase tourism. It is all about how you behave at the destinations while you're here in a more sustainable and climate-friendly manner,” Aarø-Hansen says.

“We hope that that mindset is not left in Copenhagen, but they actually bring it back home and even start to bike and start acting differently when they travel to another destination,” Aarø-Hansen adds.

As one of Europe's growing destinations, Copenhagen attracted over 12 million overnight stays in 2023 and the tourist board predicts that the city will welcome more visitors if the current trend persists.

Wonderful Copenhagen says that a study from 2017 showed that 65 per cent of international visitors in the city used public transportation, while amongst the 35 per cent who did not use public transportation, walking was the most popular form of transportation. 

'Win-win situation': What freebies can you get in Copenhagen?

A total of 24 attractions including restaurants and kayak rental shops are participating in the new green scheme, according to Wonderful Copenhagen.

At one of the partner attractions, GoBoat, tourists will be offered a free boat ride on which they'll be asked to pick up trash in the waterways every Tuesday during the campaign period. 

“We see it as a win-win situation where we can give something back to the city, also to the tourists that come to Copenhagen, where we can give out some experiences, but also get them to help us clean the waterways, which is also part of the whole idea of making GoBoat eco-friendly,” Mads Pilegaard Sander, an international growth partner at GoBoat, tells Euronews Green.

Bannegaarden, a food and culture destination in the centre of Copenhagen, offers free lunch to visitors who participate in the litter-picking activity in and around its site.

“The motivation to join this initiative is definitely to protect the nature around Bannegaarden. It is very rare that you have a place in the city that is surrounded by wild nature. So we want to do our best to keep that in that way,” says Ida Marie Banke, a partner at Bannegaarden.

“I'm looking forward to welcoming a lot of people here and to engaging our guests in this initiative because I believe it's a very important initiative. Especially in Copenhagen, I think we do a lot to protect nature around and in the city,” Banke added.

"It's actually kind of fun"

Panwipa Sukhagganond, a tourist from Thailand visiting her sister in the city, participated in the litter-picking activity at Bannegaarden.

“It took me 10 minutes to collect a whole bag of trash because it's already very clean [in Copenhagen]. At home, it would have taken me only a minute,” says Sukhagganond.

“I would hope that people would be more conscious about this and don't leave the trash all around the future. I wanted to participate in this project because I am interested in sustainability, and I wish that I could replicate it at home in Bangkok,” Sukhagganond adds.

She says the initiative is an interesting way to help the local community and show gratitude.

“You are here to enjoy yourself and your time in this foreign country. And it's nice that you can also help to give back to the community,” says Sukhagganond.

Andy Saunders, visiting Copenhagen from Australia, heard about CopenPay from his local friend. With his partner and his friend’s daughter, Saunders spent about an hour litter-picking at Bannegaard, which rewarded with them free crepes. 

“I knew it'd be fun. Especially going with a little friend and picking up rubbish,” he says.

“It's actually kind of fun. It's like an adventure. It's like, ‘Oh, look, I found some more’. So it was a fun thing to do,” he adds.

The initiative is a pilot project and will run between 15 July and 11 August.

“Based on the evaluation, we hope to reintroduce CopenPay as a year-round, green payment experience within the economy and broaden the concept to other parts of Denmark and the rest of the world,” Wonderful Copenhagen wrote in a press release.

Copenhagen has previously been ranked as the third most sustainable destination in the world, according to the Global Destination Sustainability Index.

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