‘We must act now': Netherlands tries to control tourism boom
Strategy may involve tourist tax and closing down
attractions in crowded regions
Daniel Boffey in Brussels
Mon 6 May 2019 15.39 BST Last modified on Mon 6 May 2019
17.55 BST
The ‘Iamsterdam’ sculpture – a popular photo spot – was
removed from the square in front of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam last year.
Photograph: Merten Snijders/Getty Images/Lonely Planet Images
The tulips are being trampled, the people of Amsterdam
squeezed out of their canal-side homes and the Netherlands’ most picturesque
villages, famous for their windmills, swamped.
Now, with as many as 42 million people forecast to visit the
country annually by 2030, up from 18 million in 2018, the Netherlands tourist
board has had enough.
In a major shift, the board is moving its focus from
promoting the country as a tourist destination to trying to manage the huge
numbers coming in by plane, train and automobile.
A country of 17 million people can have too much of a good
thing, it is suggested.
“We say that ‘more’ is not always better, certainly not
everywhere,” a tourist board policy document states. “To be able to control
visitor flows, we must take action now. Instead of destination promotion it’s
time for destination management.”
Such is the nuisance factor of some tourists in parts of the
Netherlands that the tourist board is even encouraging regions to take up a
policy of “develop and discourage”.
A document laying out the strategy suggests this might
require actively dissuading people from visiting certain areas through means
such as closing down disreputable attractions to imposing a tourist tax. The
standard of life of some of the country’s residents is said to be coming under
pressure.
“Tourism is not a goal, in this perspective,” a spokeswoman
for the tourist board said of the strategy, which was devised at the end of
last year but has hit the headlines in Holland due to recent budget
negotiations with the Dutch government.
“Some cities and regions are very busy – cities such as
Amsterdam or areas such as Giethoorn, a small village with a lot of windmills
and farmers – and there are a lot of Chinese tourists that are very interested
in that village,” the spokeswoman said.
“A few years ago the entrepreneurs were focused on getting
more people in the village but now inhabitants are saying it is cool that
people are coming here as it is good for the local economy but it looks like a
museum at the moment rather than a tourist attraction.”
Giethoorn, a village of 2,500 people that is usually
explored by boat through its network of small canals, is visited by an
estimated 350,000 Chinese tourists every year.
The spokeswoman added that the strategy did not preclude
promotion of those areas in desperate need of tourists in the north of the
country. “We do promotion – but not for our capital,” she said.
Amsterdam, home to 1.1 million people, attracts more than 17
million visitors a year when including day-trippers and Dutch locals.
But, in a sign that the problem is not getting people into
the city but managing the crowds, the city’s Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum
are breaking from attending a major US travel convention at the end of the
year.
In a symbolic move last year, an enormous sculpture spelling
out “Iamsterdam” was also removed from the square in front of the Rijksmuseum.
The local municipality is also seeking to halt the growth of
hotels, souvenir shops, ticket sales outlets and cheese shops. Schiphol
airport’s capacity is to be capped and passenger vessels are to be moved out of
the city’s centre.
Tourism earns the Dutch economy €82bn (£70bn) and in 2018
accounted for about 761,000 jobs – one in 13 jobs in the Netherlands – but
there is also concern over the environmental cost.
The tourist board in the bulb region of the Netherlands has
had to start fencing in fields of tulips due to damage created by the scourge
of selfie-seeking tourists.
The Dutch government’s ability to keep to its climate change
pledges if the rate of growth in numbers continues is also in doubt.
Should 42 million people visit in 2030, the target of
reducing CO2 emissions by 49% in 2030 compared with 2017 would likely not be
met, the tourist board has warned.
“In addition to emissions, the growing number of visitors
also ensures more consumption, possible food waste and pollution by (stray)
waste,” the board’s document says. “Moreover, crowded destinations leads to
harm to nature.”
Europeans remain the most likely to visit the Netherlands,
with Germans and Belgians making up 42% of all tourists.
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