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Sustainable Tourism in Bali: The Challenges and What Marketers Can Learn

Sustainable Tourism in Bali: The Challenges and What Marketers Can Learn

by | Oct 19, 2026 | Sustainability Society, Sustainable Marketing, Sustainable Tourism

Sustainable Tourism in Bali: The Challenges and What Marketers Can Learn

Bali is one of the world’s best-loved islands, and it is working hard to stay that way. Tourism brings jobs, investment and global attention, and Bali is putting that money and attention to work: a tourist levy that funds the protection of culture and nature, some of the boldest plastic rules in the region, and a strong network of local businesses and campaigners leading the way.

Here’s how tourism shapes Bali, what the island is doing to make it sustainable, and what hospitality brands everywhere can learn.

What are the positive impacts of tourism in Bali?

Economic benefits

Tourism is one of the pillars of Bali’s economy. The island welcomed 6,333,360 international visitors in 2024, up 20.10% on 2023 and slightly above its pre-pandemic 2019 level, according to Bali’s Central Bureau of Statistics (Bali Hotels Association). Members of the Bali Hotels Association alone represent more than 25,860 hotel rooms and almost 31,000 tourism-sector employees (same source).

Positive environmental impacts

Tourism also funds environmental protection directly. Since 14 February 2024, international visitors have paid a one-off levy of IDR 150,000, about USD 10 (Philippine Embassy in Jakarta). The money is used to conserve, preserve and revitalise Bali’s nature and culture, and to improve services for visitors (Love Bali). Visitor demand for responsible travel also rewards businesses that invest in sustainability, from organic farming to waste management, as you’ll see in the examples below.

Cultural benefits

International interest helps protect Bali’s living heritage. In 2012, UNESCO inscribed the Cultural Landscape of Bali Province on its World Heritage List. It recognises the subak, a cooperative system of canals, weirs and water temples dating back to the 9th century, and the Tri Hita Karana philosophy behind it, which brings together the spiritual realm, the human world and nature (UNESCO). Tri Hita Karana is, in many ways, a centuries-old sustainability framework, and it gives Bali a story about balance that few destinations can match.

What are the negative impacts of tourism in Bali?

Like every popular destination, Bali faces pressure from visitor numbers: on waste, water, land, roads and the authenticity of cultural life. The island’s leaders are tackling these head on, which is why the levy explicitly exists to protect Balinese culture and the natural environment.

Plastic waste has been a particular focus. In 2019, Bali banned single-use plastics including bags, straws and Styrofoam (World Economic Forum). On 2 April 2025, Governor I Wayan Koster went further with Circular Letter No. 9 of 2025, which bans the production of single-use plastic bottled water under one litre and applies to businesses including hotels, restaurants and cafes (SSEK).

Sustainable tourism initiatives in Bali

Love Bali: the tourist levy – Run by the Bali Provincial Government, Love Bali lets visitors pay the levy online before they travel. It turns every international arrival into a direct contribution to the island’s nature and culture (Love Bali).

Bye Bye Plastic Bags – Sisters Melati and Isabel Wijsen founded Bye Bye Plastic Bags in 2013, when they were 12 and 10, campaigning against plastic bags in Bali (World Economic Forum). It is a powerful example of young local changemakers shaping their island’s future.

Sungai Watch – Sungai Watch installs trash barriers in Bali’s rivers to stop plastic reaching the ocean. Its first barrier went in in October 2020. By early 2023 it had placed 180 barriers and collected more than 982,000 kilograms of plastic, sorting and analysing what it finds to push for better solutions (Plastic Soup Foundation).

Munduk Moding Plantation – In the hills of North Bali, Munduk Moding Plantation offers guests a sustainability tour covering organic farming, waste management, renewable energy and community engagement. The resort also runs free English and Balinese dance classes for local children (Munduk Moding Plantation).

The industry bodies leading change

  • The Bali Tourism Board, the island’s tourism industry body, which describes its role as driving quality, sustainable tourism.
  • Bali Hotels Association, representing star-rated hotels and resorts, which has run initiatives including a Sustainable Food Festival.

What marketers can learn from Bali

At Growfish, we work on sustainability communications for purpose-driven organisations, and Bali offers some of the clearest lessons we know.

  1. Lead with your values, not your amenities. Tri Hita Karana gives Bali a story about harmony that runs deeper than beaches. Brands with a genuine purpose should tell it.
  2. Make visitors part of the solution. The Love Bali levy turns tourists into contributors. Give your customers a clear, tangible role in your impact.
  3. Back bold claims with bold action. Bali’s plastic rules are credible because they’re enforceable and specific. Specific action is far more persuasive than vague promises.
  4. Champion the grassroots. Bye Bye Plastic Bags and Sungai Watch carry more authority than any advert. Partnering with genuine local changemakers builds trust.
  5. Be honest about the challenges. Acknowledging pressure from mass tourism, while showing what you’re doing about it, makes the positive story more believable.

What hospitality businesses can learn from Bali

For hotels, resorts and tour operators, in Bali or anywhere else, the island points to a few clear priorities:

  • Get ahead of regulation. Bali’s 2025 rules on plastic bottled water apply directly to hotels, restaurants and cafes. Switching early to refill stations and reusables turns compliance into a guest-facing story.
  • Show guests the impact. Tours like Munduk Moding’s let visitors see sustainability in action, which is far more memorable than a sign about reusing towels.
  • Invest in the community. Free classes for local children, local hiring and local sourcing are the details guests remember and share.
  • Keep claims specific. From 27 September 2026, EU rules ban generic environmental claims that can’t be backed by recognised excellent environmental performance, which matters for anyone marketing to European travellers. Our guide to sustainable vs traditional marketing explains more.

If you run a hotel or travel business and want your sustainability story to reach the right guests, get in touch.

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FAQs

What are the positive environmental impacts of tourism in Bali?

Tourism funds conservation directly through the Love Bali levy, and visitor demand rewards businesses that invest in organic farming, waste management and renewable energy.

What are the negative impacts of tourism in Bali?

Pressure on waste, water, land, roads and cultural life. Bali is responding with its tourist levy, its 2019 ban on single-use plastics and its 2025 rules on plastic bottled water.

How much is the Bali tourist tax?

IDR 150,000 per international visitor, about USD 10, paid once. It has applied since 14 February 2024 and can be paid in advance through Love Bali.

Is Bali a sustainable destination?

It is working hard to become one. Its levy, plastic rules, UNESCO-recognised subak landscape and active local campaigners make it one of the most interesting sustainable tourism stories in Asia.

Sources

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Written by
Pollyanna Durbin

For more info about growing your business with a sustainable marketing strategy, get in touch with us at growfish.co

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Sustainability in Copenhagen: Why It’s a Green City (2026)

Sustainability in Copenhagen: Why It’s a Green City (2026)

by | Aug 9, 2026 | Sustainability Society, Sustainable Marketing, Sustainable Tourism

Sustainability in Copenhagen: Why It’s a Green City (2026)

Copenhagen is a sustainable city because it makes the green choice the easy choice. Cycling is quicker than driving for many journeys, almost every home is warmed by a shared district heating network, waste becomes energy, and even visitors are rewarded for travelling responsibly.

For anyone working in sustainability, marketing or hospitality, Copenhagen is more than a pleasant city break. It shows how good design, consistent policy and clear communication can change everyday behaviour at scale. Here’s what makes it work, and what the rest of us can learn from it.

Why is Copenhagen a sustainable city?

Copenhagen’s sustainability rests on four things working together:

  • Transport built around bikes. Cycling is the obvious way to get around, not a lifestyle statement.
  • Shared, low-carbon heating. District heating covers 98% of the city’s heating demand (HOFOR).
  • Waste treated as a resource. The CopenHill plant turns waste into energy and doubles as a public ski slope.
  • A whole-city approach to tourism. Wonderful Copenhagen, the city’s tourism organisation, rewards visitors for green actions through CopenPay.

What ties them together is that none of them relies on people being heroic. The infrastructure does the work, and the sustainable option is usually the most convenient one.

How is Copenhagen sustainable? The key initiatives

A city built for cycling

According to VisitCopenhagen, 49% of trips to work or school in the city are made by bike, up from 35% ten years earlier, and 97% of Copenhageners are satisfied with cycling conditions (VisitCopenhagen). Dedicated bridges, wide cycle tracks and bike signals that give riders a head start at junctions make cycling feel safe and fast.

The lesson is in the bridges. When the Bryggebroen cycle and pedestrian bridge opened in 2006, experts expected about 3,300 crossings a day. Within months, more than 9,000 people were using it, a third of them former car drivers (same source). Build the route and people use it.

Green heating for almost every home

Copenhagen’s district heating network, run by the utility HOFOR, covers 98% of the city’s heating demand. HOFOR has converted the Amagerværket power station from fossil fuels to biomass and replaced the last steam-based section of the network with more efficient water-based heating (HOFOR).

Shared heat networks like this are far easier to decarbonise than millions of individual boilers, which is a big part of why the city’s emissions have fallen so far.

CopenHill: waste-to-energy with a ski slope

CopenHill, also known as Amager Bakke, is a waste-to-energy plant designed by Bjarke Ingels Group that opened in 2019. It converts around 440,000 tonnes of waste into energy each year, and its roof carries a ski slope of about 400 metres, along with hiking trails and a climbing wall (Dezeen).

It is a brilliant piece of communication as much as engineering. A power plant that people choose to visit for fun makes the city’s energy system visible and something to be proud of.

CopenPay: rewarding tourists for green choices

CopenPay, created by Wonderful Copenhagen, rewards visitors for actions such as cycling, picking up litter, arriving by train or joining biodiversity workshops. In return they get free experiences, meals and discounts.

The results are impressive. Participation grew from 5,000 people in the 2024 pilot to 25,000 in 2025, partners grew from 26 to 100, and 7 in 10 participants said they left motivated to change everyday habits such as cycling more and sorting waste. Bike rentals rose 59% on the same period the year before, and 98% of users were satisfied or very satisfied (Wonderful Copenhagen).

TIME named CopenPay one of its Best Inventions of 2025. In June 2026, Wonderful Copenhagen announced it would relaunch on 22 June as a permanent, year-round scheme, and it now offers the model free to other destinations as DestinationPay (Wonderful Copenhagen).

A city designed for living well

Sustainability in Copenhagen is not only about energy and emissions. The city encourages visitors to swim in the harbour at spots such as Islands Brygge Harbour Bath, eat at organic and plant-based restaurants, and visit urban farms such as the rooftop restaurant Gro Spiseri. VisitCopenhagen has also worked with the City of Copenhagen on simple guidance for visitors on helping to look after the city (VisitCopenhagen).

Is Copenhagen carbon neutral?

Not yet, but its progress is still remarkable. Copenhagen set out to become the world’s first carbon-neutral capital by 2025. In August 2022 the city said that goal was no longer realistic, because the CopenHill operator ARC could not secure the funding it needed to build full-scale carbon capture at the plant. By then the city had already cut its CO2 emissions by 80%, beating its own target, and it now aims to make a positive contribution to the climate by 2035 at the latest (The Copenhagen Post).

That honesty is part of what makes Copenhagen credible. It set a bold target, reported openly when one part of the plan stalled, and kept going.

The organisations driving Copenhagen’s green transition

Copenhagen’s success is not just the work of the city council. A wider network of organisations shares Danish expertise with the world:

  • Wonderful Copenhagen, the city’s official tourism organisation, behind CopenPay and DestinationPay.
  • State of Green, a not-for-profit public-private partnership between the Danish government and Danish Industry, Green Power Denmark and the Danish Agriculture and Food Council. It connects more than 600 Danish organisations with international partners working on the green transition.
  • CONCITO, Denmark’s independent green think tank, which turns research and data into practical climate action across energy, food, cities and the economy.
  • HOFOR, the city’s utility, running the district heating network.

What marketers can learn from Copenhagen

At Growfish, we work on sustainability communications every day, and Copenhagen is one of the examples we return to most. Here’s why.

  1. Make the sustainable choice the easy one. Copenhagen doesn’t lecture people into cycling. It makes cycling faster and safer. Good sustainable marketing removes friction rather than adding guilt.
  2. Reward, don’t shame. CopenPay offers a free lunch for picking up litter. Positive incentives create goodwill and stories people want to share.
  3. Make the invisible visible. A ski slope on a power plant turns energy infrastructure into a talking point. Find the tangible, surprising side of your sustainability work.
  4. Be honest about setbacks. Copenhagen’s openness about its 2025 target makes its other claims more believable. Admitting what’s still in progress builds trust.
  5. Back every claim with evidence. Every result Wonderful Copenhagen publishes about CopenPay comes with a number. Specific, measurable claims are more persuasive and, under new UK and EU rules, far safer than vague green language.

What hospitality businesses can learn from Copenhagen

Copenhagen shows that sustainability and a great guest experience go together. According to Wonderful Copenhagen, a majority of the hotel rooms around the city are eco-certified (Wonderful Copenhagen). For hotels, tour operators and venues anywhere, a few lessons stand out:

  • Get independently certified, and explain in plain language what the certification means for guests.
  • Reward guests for green choices, as CopenPay does, rather than only asking them to reuse towels. DestinationPay now makes this model available to other destinations free of charge.
  • Tell specific stories. Local suppliers, real energy savings and named initiatives are far more convincing than “eco-friendly”.
  • Check your claims. From 27 September 2026, EU rules ban generic environmental claims that can’t be backed by recognised excellent environmental performance, which affects how hospitality brands can describe themselves. Our guide to sustainable vs traditional marketing explains the new rules.

We help travel and hospitality brands communicate sustainability with confidence. We’ve spoken to Select Green Hotels about what makes green hospitality work. If you run a hotel, venue or travel business and want your sustainability story to reach the right guests, explore our travel and hospitality copywriting and services, or get in touch.

FAQs

Why is Copenhagen considered a green city? Because sustainable choices are built into everyday life: around half of trips to work or school are by bike, district heating covers 98% of heating demand, waste is turned into energy, and visitors are rewarded for green actions.

Is Copenhagen carbon neutral? Not yet. The city dropped its 2025 carbon-neutral goal in 2022 after funding for carbon capture fell through, but it had already cut CO2 emissions by 80% and is working towards a new 2035 aim.

What is CopenPay? A scheme run by Wonderful Copenhagen that rewards tourists with free experiences and discounts for actions such as cycling, collecting litter or arriving by train. It became a permanent, year-round scheme in June 2026.

What can other cities learn from Copenhagen? That infrastructure and incentives change behaviour more reliably than messaging alone, and that honest, evidence-based communication builds lasting trust.

Sources

For more information about growing your business, get in touch with a member of the team at growfish.co. We’d love to hear from you.

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Written by
Pollyanna Durbin

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Sustainable Marketing Agencies in Mallorca: Amplifying the Sustainable Tourism Transformation

Sustainable Marketing Agencies in Mallorca: Amplifying the Sustainable Tourism Transformation

by | Sep 30, 2024 | Sustainability Society, Sustainable Marketing, Sustainable Tourism

Sustainable Marketing Agencies in Mallorca: Amplifying the Sustainable Tourism Transformation

Mallorca, with its stunning beaches, vibrant culture and awe-inspiring landscapes, has long been a sought-after summer travel destination with tourism numbers growing exponentially each year. Like many holiday destinations in Spain however, the island’s popularity comes at a cost, with the environmental and social implications of mass tourism becoming increasingly evident in recent years.

In this guide, we look at what is happening in Mallorca and how the island is responding. We also share practical lessons for tourism businesses, including the new EU rules on green claims that now apply in Spain.

What is happening with tourism in Mallorca?

Tourism drives Mallorca’s economy, but many residents feel the island has reached its limit. In August 2024, for example, more than 100 members of the “Occupem Les Nostres Platges” (“Occupy Our Beaches”) movement gathered on S’Arenal beach in Palma. They called for stricter limits on tourism, citing housing costs and overstretched public services.

The environmental pressure is also clear. The Mallorca Sustainability Observatory, set up by Banca March and the Mallorca Preservation Foundation, studied tourism’s impact in 2022. That year, Mallorca received 11.48 million visitors. The study found that the average tourist’s carbon footprint was almost double the average resident’s. Tourists averaged 11.2 tonnes of CO2, compared with 5.8 tonnes for residents. Transport made up 45% of the tourist figure.

How is Mallorca responding?

Local and regional authorities are taking several steps. First, the Balearic Government has charged a sustainable tourism tax on stays in tourist accommodation since July 2016. The money funds projects that help offset tourism’s impact on the islands’ land and environment.

Meanwhile, the Mallorca Responsible Tourism Foundation, part of the Consell de Mallorca, runs a responsible tourism pledge. Residents, visitors, businesses and institutions can all sign it. Its eight principles cover practical behaviour, such as:

  • taking litter home and recycling correctly
  • sticking to marked paths and leaving wildlife alone
  • saving water and energy during your stay
  • buying local food and crafts
  • protecting seagrass meadows by not anchoring nearby
  • respecting residents’ rest hours

Notably, the foundation’s current campaign, “I take care of you, you take care of me”, focuses on mutual respect rather than restrictions.

Why sustainable tourism marketing matters in Mallorca

Marketing helped make Mallorca famous, so it shares some responsibility for what happens next. In fact, the aim of sustainable tourism marketing here is not to attract more people. Instead, it is to change when people visit, where they go and how they behave once they arrive.

This is a delicate balance. Promote the wrong thing and you add to the pressure residents are protesting about. Get it right, however, and your marketing can support the island’s own efforts.

Five ways to market responsible tourism in Mallorca

Spread visits across the year. Peak summer brings the most pressure. Therefore, give people good reasons to visit in spring, autumn and winter, such as hiking, cycling or quieter beaches.

Promote lesser-known places with care. Encouraging visitors beyond the hotspots can ease crowding. However, it can also move the problem somewhere more fragile. So think about capacity, and talk to local communities before you promote a new spot.

Champion local businesses. Feature local producers, guides and craftspeople in your content. This way, more of the money visitors spend stays on the island.

Help guests behave well. Share practical guidance before and during each stay. For instance, you could link to the pledge in booking emails or explain what the tourist tax pays for.

Be specific about your own impact. Tell guests exactly what you do, such as how you save water or source food. Above all, avoid vague words like “eco-friendly”, which now carry legal risk in the EU.

Sustainable tourism marketing and the new EU rules

Since 27 September 2026, new EU rules on environmental claims have applied in Spain. They come from Directive (EU) 2024/825, often called the Empowering Consumers Directive. As a result, several types of claim are now high risk:

  • generic claims such as “green” or “eco-friendly”, unless you can show recognised excellent environmental performance or state the specific benefit alongside them
  • claims about a whole business when the benefit only covers one part of it
  • promises about future performance without a clear, public plan

If you market to EU customers, review your website, booking pages and social media now. For complex cases, take legal advice.

Frequently asked questions

What is sustainable tourism marketing?

Sustainable tourism marketing promotes travel in ways that reduce harm to places and communities. Rather than chasing visitor numbers, it shapes when people travel, where they go and how they behave.

Why are people in Mallorca protesting about tourism?

Residents have raised concerns about the lack of affordable housing, overstretched healthcare and crowded beaches. They also point to disrespectful behaviour by some visitors.

What is the Mallorca responsible tourism pledge?

It is a voluntary commitment run by the Mallorca Responsible Tourism Foundation. It asks residents, visitors and businesses to help protect the island’s nature, culture and communities.

Getting help with sustainable tourism marketing

Growfish is a Bristol-based sustainable marketing and communications studio, if you’d like help marketing your tourism business responsibly, get in touch.

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Tiggy O’Connnor

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For more information about growing your sustainable business with a sustainable marketing strategy, get in touch with a member of the team at growfish.co. We’d love to hear form you!

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Q&A with Select Green Hotels

Q&A with Select Green Hotels

by | Oct 21, 2021 | Climate Experts: Q&A, Green Business, Sustainable Tourism

Q&A with Select Green Hotels

Growfish.co met with Isabelle, the owner of the wonderful new eco-travel business Select Green Hotels – a booking platform that specialises in luxury eco-resorts. Here she inspires us with the stories behind setting up her businesses and tips on the best hotels to look out for in 2022.

What inspired you to set up both Green Luxury Guide and Select Green Hotels?

I have always been very aware of environmental issues, and I’ve been eating organic and using organic skincare and eco-friendly cleaning products for years. I also love vintage shopping. However, I’ve lived quite a fast and busy life with little time to make conscious choices if they weren’t presented in an easy way to me. When the lockdown in Germany was announced in March 2020, I was working in Marketing Communications for a luxury hotel brand. Like many in the industry, I was grounded with a lot of time for myself. For me, this meant finally figuring out how to live more sustainably in all aspects of daily life. I realized quickly that to find really pretty eco-hotels, it takes days to search the internet. I happened to have the time and industry knowledge to do this, but who else has the time and patience? I felt that there was a huge gap between the traveller who wishes to travel more sustainably and the offerings of hotel booking platforms.

How can we all travel more sustainably?

Sustainability is such a broad term, it includes eco-friendliness but also social and economic stability. I think it can be overwhelming for people at times. Easy things to implement are taking trains instead of cars or planes, eating local and seasonal at the destination and actively refusing single-use plastics – this does have an educational effect as well. Whenever possible, I advise enjoying local culture and products. That way our trip has a positive economic impact on the local community. Looking out for eco certifications and our Select Green Sustainability Criteria when choosing a hotel helps to better understand if the accommodation is making an effort.

How do you make sure you practice self-care as a busy ecopreneur?

That’s the toughest question 😉 At some point, I realized that I’m barely moving from my computer all day. So I started doing 10-minute HIIT workouts every morning – no excuses – to get my body going. However, I do find entrepreneurship so uplifting that I feel I do a lot of mental self-care just by working on something I deeply believe in.

Where do you think the conscious travel industry is headed in the future?

The future of travel is green! Looking at the latest reports, the demand for more sustainable accommodations is growing immensely. Hoteliers start to understand that sustainable practices are more than just a good marketing tool. Guests are becoming more and more educated, so greenwashers will be spotted easier.

Which eco hotels should we look out for in 2022!

These past years saw some great new hotel openings. For a romantic Mallorcan getaway, I recommend LJs Ratxo – it’s completely plastic-free and in the middle of a nature reserve. For a city trip to Paris, HoY is a chic yoga hotel in the hip Pigalle district, and for an alpine skiing trip, Valsana in Arosa is chic yet laidback ski hotel.

For information on the best new eco-hotels to visit in 2022, visit www.selectgreenhotels.com.

Written by
Pollyanna Durbin

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