Press trips leading up to COP15

Copenhagen's abilities as host city will soon be seriously put to test. The UN Climate Conference (COP15) is not just one of the largest congresses on Danish soil ever, it is also a media event of Olympic dimensions. And for Wonderful Copenhagen, the conference is a seldom-seen opportunity to work with business tourism journalists who are focused on green meetings and who are looking towards Copenhagen. An effective method for this is press tours run by Wonderful Copenhagen.

When the United Nations Climate Change Conference takes over Copenhagen from 7 to 18 December 2009, Wonderful Copenhagen's communications department will have been working flat-out on many initiatives targeted at international 'green' journalists. These include global distribution of press materials about Copenhagen's green objectives, newsletters, green online services such as www.visitcopenhagen.com/green, a mobile phone solution for COP15 participants, an information stand in Bella Center and much more. And Wonderful Copenhagen, in collaboration with VisitDenmark, has also run several tours for international journalists.

Journalists impressed
The first multinational press tour took place over three days back in September. It was called "Bridging the environmental challenge in the Øresund region -- green and sustainable meetings and events" and several prominent business tourism media were invited to the Øresund region to get to know more about Danish (and Swedish) experiences with green meetings and events, etc. The things they saw on the tour included the sustainable city district of Sege Park in Malmö, the DGI-byen sports centre and its collaboration with Dong Energy, and the low energy festival CO₂PENHAGEN at the Technical University of Denmark. On top of these were visits to organic restaurants, sightseeing on Segways and much more. Participants on the tour were "MEET IN" from Spain, "Il Sole 24 ore" from Italy and "Business Destinations" from the UK. After the tour, all the media seemed very impressed with the Danish ability to think green:

Eva López Alvarez from "MEET IN " says it like this:
- Copenhagen is much more committed to this subject [environment and climate] than other cities I know. Everyone is starting to deal with the subject, but my impression is that in Denmark it is not just a start - it is actually a fact.

The best cycle paths
Fleur Kinson from the UK particularly noticed the use of solar and wind power, but Copenhagen's very special cycling culture also made an impression:

- The use of wind and solar power is very commendable, just as the presence of green hotels and various green certification systems, including the Green Key and the Nordic Eco-label. But I have to say that Copenhagen and Malmö have the best cycle paths I have ever seen! I live in Oxford in England, where there are more bicycles than in most other towns in my home country, but our cycle paths are frightening compared to yours! In Copenhagen and Malmö, you never feel like a second-class citizen when you're on a bicycle. You don't feel that cars automatically have a higher priority than you do.

Press tour sold out
The next press tour planned for business tourism media is just around the corner. During COP15, from 6 to 8 December, the "EXCLUSIVE meetings industry media trip" will be taking place. The meeting industry's most significant media are invited along, and the tour is already sold out. The communications adviser and press officer at Wonderful Copenhagen, Ulrika Mårtensson, says:

- It is a unique opportunity to show that Copenhagen can handle congresses of this size and in fact do so with a green signature. We have long realised that as a destination, we cannot compete on price. But we lead on marketing the "green product", because COP15 has turbo-charged a development that was already underway in Copenhagen. The importance of green meeting products is underlined by the fact that so many important media are taking the time to join in this green tour.

Green cultural events
Just as it was during the IOC Congress last month, Wonderful Copenhagen is also involved in events for ordinary people taking place alongside COP15. Wonderful Copenhagen, in collaboration with the Foreign Ministry, is in charge of the official online cultural calendar of around 80 events. The cultural calendar is also being printed and distributed to all the delegates at the summit.