The
Observer
Europe
TikTok food tourists leave a bitter taste in
Amsterdam
Shop owners and residents are not taking kindly to
‘flash crowds’ who come to pose and eat fast food in the city’s quaint tangle
of streets such as De 9 Straatjes
Senay
Boztas in Amsterdam
Sun 10 Sep
2023 10.00 BST
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/10/tiktok-food-tourists-leave-a-bitter-taste-in-amsterdam
It is
3.30pm on a Friday and 28-year-old German Lisa Wulff is in a half-hour queue
for bubble tea and “toasts” at Amsterdam’s Chun cafe.
“I’ve seen
it on social media, and it looks good,” she says. “My generation is more on
Instagram, but I have a younger sister, so I saw it on TikTok.”
She is one
of 23 million overnight tourists expected this year in Amsterdam and is looking
to eat in the city’s famous De 9 Straatjes – “nine little streets”. One brick
road down, the queue for posh chip shop and fellow social media sensation Fabel
Friet stretches across a bridge.
They are
symptoms of a certain kind of tourism, inspired more by social media than
classic attractions or guidebooks, also seen in Italy and Spain, but very
evident in this small, heavily visited country.
While the
number of tourists appears to be back at peak 2019 levels, Amsterdammers
complain that many appear more inspired by Instagrammable food, lazy bike rides
and “window shopping” in the red light district than by the city’s top hotels,
museums and galleries.
Some are
particularly concerned about social media-influenced flash crowds in places
used to a meandering stream. Outside Fabel Friet, a notice asks customers
“kindly to respect our neighbours by not eating your fries in front of their
houses” while Brenned Tieman on security duty asks tourists to move to the
canal to eat their fries with “war” sauce (mayo, satay and onions).
Although
Fabel Friet started promoting itself during the pandemic with viral TikTok
clips handcutting chips or magically forming them into the shop’s name,
co-founder Floris Feilzer would prefer a Michelin star to social media fame.
“We are
done with the TikTok label,” he says. “If you don’t have the quality, it won’t
come to anything. It’s about having great products, and a heart for the
business and for the neighbourhood. A lot of residents come here for chips.”
At Chun
cafe, owners Melissa Cheung and Kelvin Chan see things slightly differently:
they feel social media – they use Instagram – gives small businesses a
democratic and inclusive channel for promotion. “While we don’t actively post
on TikTok, we’ve been thrilled to see the spontaneous buzz generated by
individuals who share their experiences,” the couple said.
But despite
the efforts of both businesses to be good neighbours, around the corner on the
Keizersgracht – the most expensive street in the Netherlands – some are
unhappy. Multiple signs in windows and on stairs read: “No picnic: please do
not sit here.”
A local
business owner, who asked not to be named, believes takeaways belong in the red
light district. “This is a beautiful place, and now it’s full of eating
people,” she says. “It’s not that I don’t want them to have success, but look
at it for us: my clients stay away.”
Lony
Scharenborg, manager of the De 9 Straatjes shopping area, hopes the trend for
performative tourism – copying influencer content – is temporary. “It’s the
general public that decides things on TikTok,” she says. “It was all about
takeaways – something you don’t expect in the Canal Ring or next to chic
hotels. A lot of young people come for chips or a biscuit, which is good for
diversity and inclusivity, but if it becomes dominant, other shops will go
away.”
In the
densely populated, tourist-heavy Netherlands, social media trends are evident.
After enduring Instagram-happy visitors trampling the bulb crop, the Dutch
tourist board this year imagined a “human-proof” tulip for its April fools’
campaign.
“We’re all
aware that certain places can suffer from overtourism. We’ve been looking to
spread that tourism,” says Simone Sagi of the Netherlands Board of Tourism and
Conventions, which uses social media to promote diverse destinations and “slow
Sundays”.
Amsterdam
city council points out “it is a worldwide trend that because of social media,
certain places and products are visited more for visitors to film or photograph
themselves and share” and says it is ensuring businesses reduce nuisance and
“keeping a close eye on developments”.
A national
law may give councils more power to control soaring numbers of fast food
outlets. “And,” adds Scharenborg, “of course it’s never nice to eat on the
street.”
According
to Dr Joris Demmers, associate professor and head of the marketing department
at Amsterdam University’s business school, flash crowds are not good for
businesses.
“This is a
relatively recent phenomenon so there’s not too much scientific literature, but
a few case studies show that for neighbourhoods, destinations and also business
owners, it’s very difficult to manage this in a good way,” he says.
“It’s like
a plague of locusts: people come, they overwhelm a place, you have capacity
problems, you start to think about hiring more people, but a week later they’ve
all gone. It’s hard to get a sustainable source of income.” He adds that
although social media may feel more “authentic”, it fosters a monoculture since
algorithms promote what was successful in the past.
“There are
so many good things outside the centre,” says Erik Schmit, tourism spokesman
for D66 liberal democrats in Amsterdam, which successfully proposed closing a
cruise ship terminal by the central station. “My tip: Amsterdam has unique
shops, so look in other neighbourhoods.” And for the best tips, adds Demmers:
“Talk to the locals.”
Back in the
queue for what Fabel Friet aims to make “the tastiest chips in Amsterdam”, this
is what British tourists Olive Kennington and George Heading have done, asking
the owner of their boat trip where to eat. “You can trust them a bit more,”
says Heading. “It’s less of a tourist trap.”
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