As devastating as the COVID-19 pandemic was, it also served to highlight a critically important reality: The tourism industry needs to do far more to protect the planet.
And so too do travelers.
During the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, there was a great deal of industry buzz about changes that travel brands and destinations were implementing to step up efforts to protect the planet.
Some of those changes came to pass, some were greenwashing. And the abuzz surrounding the dire to be more considerate of the planet, biodiversity and fragile ecosystems has largely faded.
Meanwhile, overtourism has once again become rampant and locals in communities impacted by the crushing weight of hordes of tourists are actively protesting.
Amid this backdrop, Copenhagen has announced a refreshingly innovative new plan to reward visitors for engaging in environmentally-friendly activities.
The new program has been dubbed CopenPay, according to a press release issued by Wonderful Copenhagen, the Danish capitals tourism organization. And ht plan involves rewarding tourists for green behavior in order to help change the mindset of tourists and encourage green choices.?
The green currency scheme offers visitors activities and experiences such as guided museum tours, kayak rentals and a free vegetarian lunch in exchange for taking green actions such as cycling, helping with clean-up programs and volunteering initiatives.
It is a core task for us to make traveling sustainable. And we will only succeed if we?bridge the large gap between the visitors' desire to act sustainably and their actual behavior, Mikkel Aar?-Hansen, CEO at Wonderful Copenhagen, said in a statement announcing the program.
Aar?-Hansen added: It might sound simple, but it is not.
And in making that statement, Aar?-Hansen hit the nail on the head.
Solving the significant challenges facing the planet whether it is the insidious plastic pollution that's destroying the environment and killing wildlife, or the carbon emissions that are rapidly heating up the planet and making it unlivable in many places the problems were dealing with are incredibly complex, especially when faced with headwinds from big oil companies not interested in changing or governments led by leaders who actively deny climate change and work to block progress.
But programs like the one just unveiled in Copenhagen offer hope.
Change is notoriously hard. Research from Kantar published last year underscores this reality, revealing that 82% of tourists say they want to act sustainably but only 22% have actually changed their behavior.
And so perhaps through innovative thinking like that in Copenhagen and by showing travelers how to take manageable smaller actions to protect the planet and the communities being explored, perhaps we may eventually bring about the widespread shift in human behavior that's so desperately needed - sooner rather than later.
Copenhagens new program also manages to make clear that by taking steps to be more eco-friendly as travelers, we can also have truly rewarding and enriching experiences that connect us more deeply to the places were visiting.
We want visitors to make conscious, green choices and hopefully end up getting even better experiences while they visit, Aar?-Hansen explained.? Through CopenPay we therefore aim to incentivize tourists' sustainable behavior while enriching their cultural experience of our destination.
To that end, visitors who take plastic waste to the National Gallery of Denmark will be given free entry to a workshop where they can turn it into a piece of art.
In yet another example, travelers who opt to cycle or take public transport to the citys heating plant will be rewarded with the unique and memorable chance to ski down an artificial ski slope on the buildings roof.
There are more than 20 participating venues offering these kinds of opportunities. And if everything goes well with the pilot, which is slated to run from July 15 and August 11, the project could be implemented year-round.
We must turn tourism from being an environmental burden into a force for positive change, and one important step in this transformation is to change how we move around on the destination, what we consume, and how we interact with the locals, said Aar?-Hansen explained in the Wonderful Copenhagen press release.
It is an experimental and a small step towards creating a new mindset amongst travelers and one among many initiatives we are doing to make traveling more sustainable.
Lets hope Copenhagens program is merely the beginning of such innovative and engaging programs that show travelers the path forward to protecting the planet before its too late.
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