This move comes after new shops aimed at tourists were banned in the city, along with Airbnb short-term rentals in busy areas. The ban will come into effect on January 1, 2020, in order to give the existing tour companies a chance to wind down business. Measures have also been taken to discourage travelers from visiting some of Amsterdam’s seedier tourist hotspots.Įarlier this year, the city government announced it will end tours of the Red Light District in central Amsterdam, citing concerns that sex workers are being treated as a tourist attraction. Tours of Amsterdam's Red Light District are coming to an end. While Van Loon acknowledges the positive aspects of tourism, which earns the Dutch economy around 82 billion euros ($91.5 billion) a year, like many locals she’s worried that soaring visitor numbers are destroying the soul of this vibrant cosmopolitan city. The problem we are currently facing is that Amsterdam is so loved by tourists, we just have so many coming to the city.” “The pressure is very high,” says Ellen van Loon, a partner at Dutch architectural firm OMA who is involved in adapting the city for the future. Tolerance, it seems, has reached its limits in the Dutch capital, which is now actively urging visitors to head elsewhere as frustrated locals complain of feeling besieged by visitors using the city’s bicycle-thronged streets as a travel playground. Famous for its tolerance as much as its narrow houses and broad canals, Amsterdam is undergoing a radical change of attitude when it comes to the millions of tourists that flock to see it each year.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |