Austria Is Offering a Year of Free Train Travel in Exchange for Getting This Tattoo
The initiative was launched to promote sustainability.
Festivalgoers who like to travel will likely be fans of this initiative—if they also like the idea of permanent ink, that is.
Austria's climate minister Leonore Gewesseler is defending an initiative to promote sustainable tourism, and it involves getting a tattoo, Euronews reports. This summer, people who were willing to get a tattoo reading "Klimaticket" (which means "climate ticket," and is also the name of the travel scheme across Austria) at select festivals received free, Austria-wide train travel for a year.
The way it worked was pretty straightforward. At different events in Austria this summer, including Electric Love Festival in Salzburg, a pop-up tattoo shop welcomed festivalgoers in, and if they got a "Klimaticket" tattoo on site, they received their year-long travel prize. As Euronews reports, officials behind the campaign said that so far six people have gotten the tattoo and received the ticket.
Interest, however, was higher than that, but as per campaign rules, only the first three people per event would be gifted the ticket in exchange for the "Klimaticket" tattoo. The campaign allowed festivalgoers to get other designs, too, including those inspired by public transport, sustainability, and climate change—and those were free as well. You can check out all the eligible designs in the Instagram post below.
Some people aren't convinced of the campaign, and are accusing the initiative of being propaganda pushing Gewessler's political agenda. Others, however, don't see it as such a big deal, saying that at the end of the day, a tattoo is a personal choice. Reportedly, Gewessler responded that the initiative is only offered during the day, arguing that it is less likely for festivalgoers to be inebriated then. Additionally, she highlighted that only those over 18 are allowed to participate.
As it is, the campaign is drawing to a close for this year, and it is unclear if it will repeat in 2024.