{"id":5397,"date":"2026-04-17T17:01:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T17:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/5397\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T17:01:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T17:01:11","slug":"berlin-will-reward-tourists-for-sustainable-behaviour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/5397\/","title":{"rendered":"Berlin Will Reward Tourists for \u2018Sustainable Behaviour\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rough around the edges, a little chaotic\u00a0but effortlessly cool, Berlin<\/a>\u00a0has never sought for the approval of others.\u00a0But recently, there\u2019s one thing that the German capital is struggling to shrug off\u00a0\u2013 litter. And as visitor numbers rise, so does the\u00a0grimy aftermath.<\/p>\n

Enter\u00a0BerlinPay, a new scheme that rewards tourists for doing good deeds: think picking up litter, supporting local social projects, or helping\u00a0spiffy up\u00a0neighbourhood spaces. <\/p>\n

These small but\u00a0important\u00a0gestures go a long way, and in the long run, help create a better destination and community. Oh, and the the payoff? That comes in the form of vouchers and perks. Visitors will receive free or discounted entry to attractions<\/a>, meals at participating restaurants and curated Berlin experiences in return \u2013\u00a0all for lending a helping hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a clever concept that cities are tapping into, where tourists aren\u2019t penalised but instead rewarded with positive reinforcement. Take\u00a0Copenhagen\u2019s CopenPay scheme<\/a>\u00a0that we reported on last summer, where visitors earned rewards by arriving to the city via train.\u00a0Berlin is leaning into\u00a0the same strategy,\u00a0hoping that\u00a0travellers that engage more thoughtfully with the city will also feel\u00a0more\u00a0connected to it (and get a free lunch in return).<\/p>\n

According to euronews<\/a>, BerlinPay\u00a0is set to launch this summer in a campaign-style initiative, and the theme of the year is\u00a0water tourism. The \u2018sustainable behaviours\u2019 will centre around the city\u2019s waterways\u00a0that are in\u00a0need of a little TLC, and participants\u00a0might find themselves collecting rubbish along the banks, or pitching in on small-scale community projects, all while seeing a deeper side to the city.\u00a0The goal, according to BerlinPay\u2019s website,\u00a0is\u00a0\u2018to encourage conscious behaviour by and on the water\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Berlin has been struggling with a rapid-growing rubbish problem. A whopping \u20ac13.1 million were invested to clean the city last year (up from \u20ac10.3 million higher than the year before), and while\u00a0tourists aren\u2019t the only culprits, this BerlinPay initiative invites them to be part of the solution.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the free museum tours and lunches are always appealing incentives for good deeds, Berlin hopes these initiatives will also shift the tourist-local mindset.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udccd While we\u2019re on the subject, here is Time Out\u2019s roundup of the very best things to do in Berlin<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Did you see that\u00a0this Mediterranean island is giving 15 of its villages a \u20ac38 million makeover<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Plus:\u00a013 ways to be a better tourist right now<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Stay in the loop: sign up to our\u00a0free Time Out Travel newsletter<\/a>\u00a0for all the latest travel news and best stuff happening across the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rough around the edges, a little chaotic\u00a0but effortlessly cool, Berlin\u00a0has never sought for the approval of others.\u00a0But recently,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5398,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[3602,18,5505,5504,5506,5503],"class_list":["post-5397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-berlin","tag-audience-location-audience-worldwide","tag-berlin","tag-categories-things-to-do","tag-europe-germany","tag-news-weird-wonderful","tag-things-to-do"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}