CopenPay, Copenhagen’s climate-conscious reward scheme for visitors, is moving beyond the Danish capital as a new global model called DestinationPay, even as experts warn that the initiative may risk encouraging more travel rather than reducing its climate impact.
How CopenPay turned climate actions into rewards
Launched in summer 2024 and expanded in 2025, CopenPay was designed by Wonderful Copenhagen, the capital’s tourism organisation, to nudge visitors towards more climate-aware behaviour. Instead of traditional discounts or loyalty points, tourists could “pay” with concrete actions: arriving by train instead of flying, choosing a bicycle over a car, joining harbour clean-ups or helping in community gardens.
In return, participants received free bike rentals, museum discounts, boat tours or a meal voucher at participating venues. The idea was to show that low‑carbon choices can be simple and rewarding while aligning tourism with Copenhagen’s ambition to be a climate-responsible city.
According to Wonderful Copenhagen, more than 30,000 visitors have taken part over the first two years, as the number of partners rose from 24 to around 100 attractions, museums and venues. Surveys among participants suggest that about seven in ten say the experience inspired them to adjust their travel habits at home, and almost all would recommend the scheme to others.
The concept has also attracted considerable media attention. Wonderful Copenhagen reports thousands of international mentions in outlets ranging from European broadcasters to US newspapers and magazines, reinforcing Copenhagen’s image as a laboratory for sustainable urban tourism.
DestinationPay takes the Copenhagen model to Berlin and beyond
On 3 December 2025, during the European Tourism Forum in Copenhagen, Wonderful Copenhagen unveiled DestinationPay, a global framework that allows other cities and regions to build their own versions of CopenPay. The model packages the experience from the Danish capital into tools, data, guidelines and a playbook for local tourism boards.
DestinationPay is presented as an open model: cities can adapt the concept to local conditions while keeping the same core logic of rewarding visitors for behaviours that benefit the local community and environment. Wonderful Copenhagen says more than 100 destinations worldwide have already expressed interest.
The first confirmed adopters are Berlin and Normandy. In Berlin, the tourism agency is preparing “BerlinPay”, expected to launch in summer 2026, which will reward visitors who use public transport, cycle or engage in local environmental initiatives. In Normandy, regional tourism authorities plan to build on an existing scheme that offers discounts to visitors arriving by train or bus and moving around by public transport or bicycle, integrating it into the DestinationPay model.
EU institutions have also highlighted the initiative. The European Commission’s work on a “transition pathway” for tourism has pointed to CopenPay as an example of how innovation and sustainability can be combined, and EU officials have publicly encouraged other destinations to test similar schemes under the DestinationPay umbrella.
Experts warn of moral licensing and greenwashing risks
The global rollout comes at a time when tourism emissions are under growing scrutiny. A climate inventory for Denmark estimates that visitors account for around 10.9 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions each year, largely driven by aviation and cruise traffic rather than local transport or waste.
This gap between the biggest sources of emissions and the small climate actions rewarded by CopenPay has prompted criticism from some researchers. Climate psychologist Solveig Roepstorff argues that the scheme can create a form of moral licensing: by collecting litter, cycling or taking part in local green activities, visitors may feel they have compensated for the emissions from their flight or cruise.
Another behavioural expert, Annemette Staal, links the initiative to cognitive dissonance: travellers who see themselves as climate‑conscious may feel more comfortable flying to a destination that advertises a green reward scheme, because it helps reconcile their environmental values with carbon‑intensive travel.
Both experts warn that focusing on relatively small, visible actions can obscure the need to address the structural drivers of tourism emissions, such as the growth in international air travel and large cruise ships. They question whether a scheme that does not quantify its own climate impact can be presented as a major sustainability tool.
Wonderful Copenhagen rejects the accusation of greenwashing. The organisation stresses that CopenPay and DestinationPay are above all about awareness and behaviour, not a full carbon accounting exercise. Its surveys of participants highlight intentions to cycle more, use public transport and make more climate‑friendly choices after returning home, and the tourism board argues that this long‑term shift in attitudes is the most important effect.
Measuring impact in a high‑emissions tourism sector
One of the main criticisms concerns data and measurement. Wonderful Copenhagen has not published detailed figures on how many participants chose each activity, how often visitors opted for bikes over cars or public transport over taxis, or the estimated emissions saved. Instead, the focus has been on self‑reported intentions and the visibility of the scheme.
For some researchers, this is not sufficient in a sector where emissions are expected to rise. International tourist arrivals are projected to reach 1.8 billion globally by 2030, and European destinations – including Nordic cities – are debating how to balance economic benefits with climate commitments. Without transparent metrics, it is difficult to know whether reward schemes like CopenPay are reducing emissions, shifting demand or mainly improving destination branding.
At the same time, the Copenhagen experience shows that soft incentives can complement more traditional tools such as tourism taxes, zoning rules or limits on short‑term rentals. Some European cities have chosen to regulate or restrict tourism to curb overcrowding and pollution. By contrast, CopenPay and the wider DestinationPay model offer a voluntary approach, aligned with the idea of “nudging” rather than banning.
For Nordic and other European destinations that depend heavily on visitors, combining behavioural incentives, clear climate targets and stronger regulation may become increasingly important.
A Nordic laboratory for Europe’s sustainable tourism debate
Copenhagen’s decision to export CopenPay through DestinationPay confirms the Danish capital’s role as a reference point in the European debate on sustainable tourism. The model connects the city’s long‑standing reputation for cycling, liveability and climate policies with a concrete tool that other destinations can copy.
As BerlinPay and possible future versions in other European regions are developed, their implementation will provide a testing ground for whether reward‑based schemes can meaningfully change visitor behaviour or mainly strengthen a green image for already popular destinations.
For Nordic countries and the wider European Union, the rollout of DestinationPay raises broader questions: how to reconcile the growth of international travel with climate neutrality goals, how to ensure that local communities benefit from tourism, and how to distinguish between substantive climate action and symbolic gestures.
The answers will not depend on CopenPay alone. But as the concept spreads from Copenhagen to Berlin, Normandy and potentially dozens of other cities, it is likely to remain at the centre of discussions on what truly sustainable tourism in Europe should look like.
