Copenhagen welcomes visitors with a conscience

While some cities in Europe such as Barcelona are showing an increasing hostility to overtourism, the Danish capital Copenhagen is going the opposite direction and giving visitors incentives to come to the city — provided they behave in the right way.

Sustainability and eco-friendliness play prominent roles in a new initiative launched by the country's tourist board, called CopenPay, which will run on a trial basis for a month.

Perks will be given to visitors who reuse coffee cups, use bicycles or public transport, or even help with gardening or trash collection.

In some cases, participants can offer proof of their actions by showing train tickets or photos of themselves being involved, but in many instances the reward system will be done on a trust basis, as a 2020 survey published by the Pew Research Center think tank showed that Denmark is the most highly trusting country in the world.

"No matter if you ride a bike, use public transportation, or collect trash, you can spend your good energy to collect the listed rewards, and we trust you when you ask to pay with it," says the CopenPay website."After all, the only one you would be cheating is yourself if you miss out on doing good for our planet."

Copenhagen's most popular attractions include the Tivoli Gardens amusement park, an extensive canal network and the statue of the Little Mermaid, from the story by acclaimed Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen.

Management measures

In Barcelona recently, tourists were sprayed with water pistols by locals protesting excessive visitor numbers and the impact they are having on the local environment. Visitors to Venice in Italy have to pay a daily charge, while other destinations, including Spain's Balearic islands and Dubrovnik in Croatia, have also introduced tourist management measures.

Mikkel Aaro-Hansen, from the official tourist board Wonderful Copenhagen, told The Guardian newspaper he hoped other cities might follow the Danish lead.

"We need to ensure that tourism, rather than being a burden for the environment, is transformed into a power for positive change," he said.

"Our core goals are to make travels more sustainable. We'll only manage this though if we are able to overcome the big divide between the desire of visitors to behave in a sustainable way and their actual behavior."