Is this the world's most sustainable tourism destination?

The Danish capital of Copenhagen has become an exemplar of sustainable city tourism.

Copenhagen has in total 397km of bicycle paths, a fleet of electric harbour ferries and a majority of the hotel rooms around town are eco-certified.

And you can loan a kayak for free if you will pick up some rubbish on journey journey.

Last year, the city launched a program named CopenPay. It is a pilot program where conscious actions became a currency, allowing visitors to earn free cultural experiences.

The program exceeded all expectations. During the initial four-week run, bike rentals increased by 29%, tonnes of litter were collected, and 98% of participants said they would recommend the initiative.

As a result, CopenPay is back again in 2025. The program more than tripled in size with 100 participating attractions across Copenhagen.

They include the National Museum, Kronborg Castle in Elsinore, the National Gallery of Denmark, GoBoat, Copenhill, the Urban Garden, and Donkey Republic bike rentals. The program will run through summer until August 17.

“By integrating more conscious actions into the visitor experience, CopenPay is redefining how we in Copenhagen approach tourism," says said Søren Tegen Pedersen, CEO of Wonderful Copenhagen.

"Rather than bringing more tourists to the city, the goal with CopenPay is to nudge our visitors and raise their awareness about the choices we make, when we travel - exploring Copenhagen more consciously while being rewarded with unique experiences.”

This year, CopenPay will reward visitors who arrive in Copenhagen by train with perks such as free bike rentals, yoga sessions, guided tours, or discounted entry to some of the city’s top attractions.

Passengers who purchase SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel) for their flight or come by electric car are also eligible for these rewards.

Once tourists are in the city, CopenPay also urges them to stay longer and thereby altogether travel less - by rewarding longer stays.

“The biggest climate impact from tourism comes from transportation." Pedersen adds.

"So, this year, we encourage travellers to take the train to Copenhagen. Furthermore, we want visitors to travel less but stay longer. We then reward visitors who stay four days or more by offering benefits like free bike rentals or a vegetarian meal.”

He added that the initiative aligns with Copenhagen’s ambition to become number one on the global index of most sustainable urban destinations.

“Tourism must move from being an environmental burden to a force for positive change.

"With Copenpay, we aim to raise travellers’ awareness about choices and impact. At the same time, we provide our visitors with an easy and locally based way to contribute to our city. And hopefully, they will leave inspired - both for when they return home and on their next travel.”

The Copenhagen harbour has 10 public bathing zones, while GreenKayak (above) works to reduce the amount of garbage floating in coastal waters.

The idea is simple - get a free GreenKayak trip in return for collecting trash and sharing this on social media.

Other green initiatives in Copenhagen include offshore wind turbines in the Øresund Strait between Denmark and Sweden, an increasing number of electric busses, waste-removing initiatives and ‘green wave’ traffic lights for cyclists.

See https://www.wonderfulcopenhagen.com/ and https://www.visitcopenhagen.com/

Images: Sankt Thomas Plaza and Green Kayak, Astrid Rasmussen/Daniel Rasmussen 

Online surveys ask far too much

They are absolutely relentless. Question after question. 

A colleague pointed this out on social media a couple of days ago:

"So sick of being asked to do a survey - for every bloody thing/flight/restaurant/health care etc etc. I would like to be rewarded for my precious time."

A few minutes after I had read it, this landed in my email inbox:

"We recently delivered this parcel to you. X X X X. We’d appreciate a few minutes of your time to provide feedback on your experience. This helps us improve our delivery service to you so next time it will be even better."

They did not deliver a parcel to me. They delivered a card, which told me I had to pick up the parcel at my local post office. They can't even get the question right.

And another one from a hotel that values my custom so much that it cannot even get my name right:

"Thank you for staying with us at the X X X X. To give us a better understanding of your experience during your recent stay with us, we would appreciate if you could take a moment to complete our online survey, at your convenience. The length of the survey will not be more than 5 minutes."

Then they want me to click onto a link, which I had no intention of doing.

I get them from Telstra, I get them from credit card companies. They land all the time.

They want me to do their work for them without payment. At a time when people are busier than ever.  

If a hotel wants to know what I think they could do it the old way. The GM could greet guests at check-out and ask their opinion.

Amex could actually pay attention when I tell them that their card is less and less useful.

If you want me to waste my time for your benefit, offer to send a couple of bucks to charity in exchange. Or give me a discount next time I use your services.

Or would that be asking too much?