This summer, Europe’s most popular destinations are battling mass tourism.
Whether in Barcelona, where the protesters are spray water among visitors, or in Athens, where overtourism has arrived one-headedEuropean cities are rethinking how they manage an economically important sector that has given rise to strained ties with local populations.
Copenhagen has a solution to transform tourism from a negative force to a positive one: by rewarding visitors who have a positive impact, by cleaning up the city or by cycling from one place to another.
The city CopenPay Program offers “carrots” to tourists who adopt climate-friendly measures by offering them a free lunch, coffee, kayak tour or museum entry.
The pilot, which will begin on July 15, includes 24 attractions that can count toward the rewards, ranging from bike rentals to the National Gallery of Denmark.
The aim is to encourage visitors to make conscious choices that will have an impact on the Danish capital while also encouraging them to enter the city’s main attractions. For example, Copenhagen Surf School will offer free lunch to surfers who participate in a 30-minute beach clean-up after their surfing lesson.
“This is an experiment and a small step towards creating a new mindset among travelers,” said Mikkel Aarø-Hansen, CEO of Wonderful Copenhagen, the city’s official tourism organization. in a report.
Visit Copenhagen
The group cited data The study found that tourists were often very willing to act sustainably, but only a small fraction actually changed their behavior, prompting Copenhagen to adopt a new “trust-based” approach.
Wonderful Copenhagen says the initiative is not about increasing tourism but simply promoting a better way to do it.
“With this specific project, we are focusing on promoting sustainable practices and improving the travel experience for those already here, rather than attracting more tourists. And perhaps, to inspire other cities to adopt Copenpay, if the pilot proves successful,” said Rikke Holm Petersen, Director of Communications and Marketing at Wonderful Copenhagen. Fortune.
The tourism showdown
Europe has always been a picturesque holiday destination. But recently it has also become an example of the disadvantages of mass tourism.
Local residents often face the consequences of overtourism, which can harm their overall environment. quality of life and the cost of living.
In Madrid, for example, residents were evicted from their homes. the housing market Due to the lack of social housing, aggravated by the growth of holiday rentals to meet the needs of tourists. At the same time, Barcelona has announced a ban on short-term rentals such as Airbnb from 2029 to free up housing supply for locals.
Amsterdam also has tight on overtourism by tightening rules on cannabis consumption and the construction of new hotels.
Iceland has also been on the RECIPIENT of a tourism boom, and plans to introduce a tourist tax on hotels, campsites, cruise ships and more.
These measures show that Europe’s most popular destinations must strike a delicate balance between reducing visitor numbers and losing them. Tourism is a key source of income and employment for many of these destinations.
If Copenhagen’s pilot project succeeds in turning tourism into a positive force, it could serve as an example for other cities.
“We need to transform tourism from an environmental burden into a force for positive change, and an important step in this transformation is changing the way we move around the destination, what we consume and how we interact with locals,” said Aarø-Hansen of Wonderful Copenhagen.
Update, July 11, 2024: This article has been updated with a comment from Wonderful Copenhagen.