Amsterdam has launched a new campaign, warning wild British sex and drug tourists to “Stay Away.”
Specifically, the online campaign will mainly target men aged between 18 to 35 from Great Britain. Why? They’re the demographic of tourists who tend to cause a lot of nuisance.
This is especially the case in popular tourist areas such as De Wallen, the old city centre of the capital, which includes the Red Light District, reports RTL Nieuws.
How will the “Stay Away” campaign work?
The campaign, which starts this week, will be triggered when people in Britain enter terms into search engines such as “stag party Amsterdam”, “cheap hotel Amsterdam” and “pub crawl Amsterdam.”
In an attempt to drive hopeful UK tourists away from Amsterdam, warning video adverts will pop up when showing the search results.
The ads will describe the risks and consequences of excessive alcohol and drug use: fines, a criminal record, health damage, and hospitalisation.
The message of the campaign is clear — a trip to Amsterdam may create the kind of memories you don’t want to relive.
READ MORE | Amsterdam is considering an ‘erotic center’ to replace the Red Light District
However, it’s not just the Brits who need to be handled. The campaign will be further evaluated and developed in the coming months, aiming at tourists from other European countries as well — and even parts of the Netherlands.
A ban on acting wildly
For years, people have complained of drunken Brits acting despicably by urinating in public, throwing up in canals, stripping off in drunken brawls, and going on all-night drink and drug benders.
Sofyan Mbarki, deputy mayor for economic affairs and the inner city, said that Amsterdam was already taking measures against excessive tourism and “irresponsible” growth.
In a press release statement, he stated that “visitors are still welcome, but not if they misbehave and cause a nuisance.”
Mbarki went on to say that “we have to do even more in the coming years if we want to give tourism a sustainable place in our city.”
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Following the “Stay Away Campaign”, the “How to Amsterdam” campaign will also start this month, aimed at tourists that visit Amsterdam.
The campaign will tell tourists what is and what is not allowed in the city, for example, with signs forbidding urinating in public, drunkenness, buying drugs from street dealers, and causing noise pollution.
To combat nuisance tourism even further, it was previously announced that smoking weed in Amsterdam’s city centre will be banned from mid-May. No smoking = no rowdy tourists.
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