Copenhagen just launched one of the smartest responses to overtourism I’ve seen.
A tourism strategy that rewards contribution over consumption, and it’s working.
Tourists in Copenhagen can help maintain a community garden in return for a freshly made lunch.
Or even earn a free kayak rental just by collecting rubbish along the way.
It’s all part of CopenPay, an initiative from Rikke Holm Petersen and the team at Wonderful Copenhagen that might be one of the most progressive tourism strategies I’ve seen in years.
At a time when cities like Venice and Barcelona are overwhelmed by overtourism, and I’ve shared my strong opposition to visitor taxes, Copenhagen is offering a new model: Contribution-based tourism.
The idea is to shift the visitor’s mindset from passive consumer to active participant.
The data proves it’s having an impact, with Copenhagen projecting 24% tourism growth by 2030.
For travel marketers, does this represent a credible pillar in your destination positioning? Should you be designing campaigns around value exchange rather than value extraction?
If it helps redistribute tourist flows and reduce pressure on overburdened places, I think the answer is fairly obvious.
I’d love to hear from any tourism marketers that are doing this or have examples where this is being done, so we can share it on Beautiful Destinations!
