DestinationPay: Copenhagen launches a new global model that rewards sustainable tourism. Ravenna is the first Italian city to join.

Wonderful copenhagen officially presented DestinationPay, the new international model that invites destinations around the world to adopt the approach CopenPay, the system that rewards visitors for sustainable actions taken during their trip.

The project comes after two years of experimentation started in the Danish capital and today it evolves into a global platform Designed to help cities and regions encourage virtuous behavior, for the benefit of residents, the local area, and travelers themselves.

Announced on stage at the European Tourism Forum in Copenhagen, the new model defines a paradigm shift in the tourism sector: no longer just consumption, but active contribution.

CopenPay: When good deeds generate value

CopenPay, the program that inspired DestinationPay, allows visitors to “pay back” the destination through simple and sustainable actions such as:

• collect waste from the canals,

• reach museums and attractions by bike,

• choose green mobility,

• contribute to environmental or social initiatives.

In return, tourists receive cultural rewards, free admissions or discounts, involving over 100 local partners between hotels, museums and local businesses.

"Visitors no longer just want to see a city, they want to be part of it", he has declared Søren Tegen Petersen, CEO of Wonderful Copenhagen. “DestinationPay is the way to extend this approach to the world.”

Ravenna is the first Italian city to join the model

Ravenna is the first Italian destination to officially take inspiration from CopenPay, integrating its principles into the project Footprints, financed byEuropean Urban Initiative – Innovative Actions.

The aim of the initiative is to transform visitors into “temporary citizens”, promoting: conscious travel practices, respect for the territory, active involvement in city life, and a balanced relationship between tourism and the local community.

"Sustainability is the most important challenge in tourism”, declared theRavenna Tourism Councilor Fabio Sbaraglia. “Our model aims to reward virtuous behaviors and to make Ravenna an increasingly responsible destination."

A project that Europe likes: Berlin and Normandy are already on the move.

The success of CopenPay has attracted the attention of over 100 destinations in the world, with Berlin already working on its own model "BerlinPay”, due out next summer.

In France, the Normandy Region has launched the program Low-Carbon Rate, which rewards visitors arriving in low-emission vehicles with a 10% discount on museums and attractions.

DestinationPay marks the shift from a tourism consumption economy to a new experience economy, in which the value of a trip is also measured by the contribution it offers to the territory visited.

Secondo Apostolos Tzitzikostas, European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism: "Innovation and sustainability must go hand in hand. DestinationPay is a model that can inspire many destinations around the world."".