CopenPay is a world-class example of destination stewardship in action. You have to be the change you want to see in the world, and Wonderful Copenhagen helped to incentivise positive behaviour from tourists by partnering with local private sector partners to provide exclusive rewards and opportunities for visitors who give back to the city or the environment during their stay. Fresh from winning the award for Best Placemaking Initiative at the 2024 City Nation Place Awards, we reached out to Rikke Holm Petersen, Director of Marketing, Communication, & Behaviour at Wonderful Copenhagen, to discover how this initiative fits with Copenhagen’s broader sustainable vision, and what’s next for the city.

Wonderful Copenhagen’s strategy is built on the notion that tourism can be a force for good. Can you share what that means for Copenhagen?

So far, tourism has been part of the problem in terms of sustainability, which we as an industry have a huge responsibility to change. But at the same time, tourism is an effective tool to create a better world by providing livelihoods for millions of people, bringing people together, connecting cultures, and introducing new ways to build societies with smart – and not least – green solutions.

How do you adopt more meaningful key performance indicators to show the beneficial impact tourism is having beyond heads in beds? 

With our new ‘Copenhagen, All Inclusive’ strategy, we introduce The Copenhagen Compass – a new tool designed to help us define meaningful KPIs that go beyond just heads in beds. This tool will enable us to develop and measure the broader societal value of tourism. The Copenhagen Compass is based on six coordinates representing the components of broader values: People, Social, Innovation, Socioeconomics, City Life, and Environment.

This compass is designed to help us measure our work and ensure we’re taking clear actions to reduce what we want less of and to promote what we want to encourage. As a tool, it focuses our thinking as we discuss new strategies or initiatives. For example, what does it do for our people? Does it facilitate learning and education by connecting people with different backgrounds and experiences? Does it provide opportunities for individuals to learn? Does it promote physical and mental wellbeing by providing opportunities to reflect and relax? Tourism can give back in a multitude of ways, and the Compass is our route to ensuring that we’re delivering maximum returns for visitors, locals, the city of Copenhagen, the rest of Denmark, and the world.

You’re also very clear about how you’re contributing to sustainable development goals as part of your 2030 strategy. Do you have any advice for other cities who are hesitant about embedding a commitment to SDGs in their strategy?

The SDGs are the world’s mutual goals and offer a framework relevant for all industries, including tourism. Tourism accounts for nearly 8 per cent of global CO2 emissions. That is a lot – thus, action is more important than ever. As a start, you can work with the goals directly linked to tourism: Goals 8 and 9 (8: Decent Work and Economic Growth; 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure.)

You won the award for Best Placemaking Initiative for CopenPay, a program which incentivises tourists to participate in sustainable activities. However, it was essential that you had the support of your private sector to provide the rewards and activities for tourists to engage with. Did you face any challenges with engaging partners in CopenPay?

We have been working ambitiously on sustainable tourism development for years, so our partners are very familiar with pushing the agenda forward. When we approached those most relevant for the first edition of CopenPay, they had a very positive and supportive attitude and were highly engaged in joining the pilot project, each with a custom-made concept of action and reward. Now, there is significant interest in joining the 2025 edition of CopenPay.

It was also hugely successful in generating media attention for Copenhagen and your sustainable vision for the city. Do you have any advice for places who are looking to craft campaigns and initiatives that will connect with international media?

In terms of media attention, doing something different and unexpected that can have a big potential impact helps, but working with sustainability must aim for more than just media attention. It has to be about real change for the better. In our evaluation of CopenPay 2024, tourists especially highlighted that CopenPay made it easy to participate in good deeds and give back to the destination. So, keeping things simple and accessible for both partners and visitors is essential.

You mentioned CopenPay 2.0 in your entry – what else can we expect from Wonderful Copenhagen in 2025 and beyond?

We have recently launched our new strategy: ‘Copenhagen, All Inclusive’. As the name suggests, we will include both the positive and negative impacts of tourism. With our ambitions to accelerate the green transition locally and globally, create enriching encounters and lasting value, and generate larger socioeconomic benefits for more people, we will launch a number of new initiatives in 2025 and beyond. Of course, we will also be back with a CopenPay 2025 edition, featuring more opportunities for tourists to make more responsible choices and give back to the city and the world, and to receive exciting rewards from new partners who are joining the programme.

Amazing. Thank you for sharing that with us, Rikke.