'Party city' Amsterdam determined to tame tourism

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Europe

Amsterdam is seeking to contain the influx of tourists, with the incoming council proposing a series of tough measures and plans to hike tourism taxes.

Some 18 million tourists visit Amsterdam every year – more than the entire population of the Netherlands – and local residents have growing concern that the city’s historic center has been overrun.

A tour boat on the canal in Amsterdam. /VCG Photo

The leading Green-Left and other parties negotiating a new municipal government after March elections vowed to return "Balance to the City", in a document of that name seen by Reuters.

"The positive sides of tourism such as employment and city revenues are being more and more overshadowed by the negative consequences" including trash and noise pollution, the document said. "Amsterdam is a city to live and work in – it's only a tourist destination in the second place," it added.

From 2019, tourist taxes will be hiked to seven percent, while the city will also look at ways to cut back on the number of hotel rooms.

Tourists pose for photos outside the Rijksmuseum in central Amsterdam, The Netherlands, December 1, 2017. /VCG Photo

In some swamped neighborhoods a total ban on holiday rentals may be introduced, and plans for a new passenger terminal for large cruise ships will be scrapped.

"We are looking for an alternative location outside of Amsterdam," the plan says.

The city already announced in January that it would impose a new 30-day curb on the renting of private homes via websites like online booking giant Airbnb from next year. And this will be strictly enforced, the parties pledged.

Source(s): AFP ,Reuters