Mass tourism in Amsterdam is visibly expanding way too rapidly. Here are the new regulations that the municipality of Amsterdam is putting into place, in order to prevent the city of Amsterdam being overrun with hordes of tourists.
In case you haven’t noticed, as the weather gets warmer Amsterdam gets more and more jam-packed. The city is already full of tourists, and we haven’t even reached the peak of summer season. So that is why the municipality of Amsterdam has decided to do something about this mass tourism and it has come up with some serious changes.
Hier de balans-maatregelen op een rij pic.twitter.com/akdYs1C3iW
— Ronald Olsthoorn (@RonaldOlsthoorn) 16 mei 2018
Changes in transport to regulate mass tourism in Amsterdam
The high chiefs of Amsterdam have announced that they’ll be taking the following measures in the upcoming months.
- Less beer bicycles and Segways will be allowed in the city. That means fewer drunk tourists speeding through the street screaming Dutch profanities they have learned during their short visit.
- Furthermore, transport such as water taxis, horse carriages and hottugs a.k.a motorized swimming pools (apparently that’s a thing!) will be pulled back considerably. All of these changes aim to make traffic in Amsterdam safer.
The next measures against mass tourism in Amsterdam will really have an impact.
Regulating mass tourism in Amsterdam through higher tourist taxes
- The municipality of Amsterdam will also be enforcing higher tourist taxes and stricter Airbnb rules. From 2022 onward, the tourism tax will be a 105 million euros annually. –
- Airbnb houses may not be rented to tourists for more than 30 days per year. In some neighborhoods of Amsterdam, a complete ban on holiday rentals will be implemented.
These changes aim to regulate for how long tourists stay in Amsterdam, in an attempt to avoid bottlenecks.
A hold on global brands to prevent mass tourism in Amsterdam
Less permits will be given to global chains that wish to open restaurants, cafes, or shops in Amsterdam. By doing so, the municipality is also giving a better chance to local shops and cafes to strive within the growing business competition in Amsterdam. The municipality justifies these changes by explaining that Amsterdam is a lot more than just tourism. It is a city for living and striving professionally. Therefore all of these changes will also benefit the locals and the expats who have made Amsterdam their home.
Amsterdam would like tourists to stay away, plans to ban Airbnb in certain neighbourhoods and to hike tourism tax. The city (population 900,000) expects to receive 18 million visitors this year!https://t.co/sCw5QhSu6T
— Pepijn Bergsen (@pbergsen) 16 mei 2018
How do you feel about the new regulations that aim to prevent mass tourism in Amsterdam? Let us know in the comments below!
I am not sure what the answer is but punitive measures rarely work long term. I disagree with the increase in tourism tax and the 30 day limitation on Airbnb. From my observations most people who come to Amsterdam do so for a short stay only so there is a huge turnover of visitors. I don’t think it is fair to stop global chains coming here because local shops can seldom provide the same merchandise. Amsterdam is a beautiful city but I have to agree the city is very crowded.
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