Don’t come to Amsterdam: nuisance visitors told
to go elsewhere
SocietyTravel June 10, 2021 –
By Senay
Boztas Tourism is needed but the canals don’t need watering Photo: DutchNews.nl
Holidaymakers
who want to get drunk and high and sleep in their cars are not welcome in
Amsterdam, according to a stiff warning from the city council. The Netherlands,
which is currently reporting around 1,800 new coronavirus infections a day, is
expected to go ‘green’ for international travel during the summer. But, unlike
Venice, it is sending out a strong message that it no longer wants to return to
the nuisance levels of nine million overnight tourists in 2019. Amsterdam city
council on Thursday issued a news release saying it welcomes the recent
relaxation of coronavirus restrictions, but does not want a return to the
troublesome, low-rent tourism which residents complained of last summer. ‘We do
not want to go back to what we saw before the pandemic, where massive crowds in
the Red Light District and the city’s entertainment areas caused a nuisance to
residents,’ the city announced. ‘Visitors who respect Amsterdam and the people
of Amsterdam have always been welcome and will, of course, remain so. Visitors
who treat our residents and heritage with disrespect are not welcome. The
message we have for them is: don’t come to Amsterdam.’ Fines In a release in
both Dutch and English, the city warned that it will be putting together a
‘sleeper team’ of enforcement officers who will monitor cars for people
illegally sleeping there and levy on-the-spot fines. If possible, these foreign
cars may be clamped ‘earlier’ if they have not paid for parking. There will be
more crowd patrols in busy areas, particularly on weekend evenings, streets may
be closed to vehicles, and the waterways will be policed for ‘noise pollution
and sailing speed’. Holiday rentals, which are already limited to 30 days per
year, will be monitored more intensely and the city council is also
investigating banning laughing gas in some parts of the Red Light District. Amsterdam
mayor Femke Halsema may, as last summer, restrict the sale of alcohol at
weekends. Halsema told The Parool that she too noticed increasing numbers of
cars with foreign license plates last summer, and said although the city cannot
turn people away, it wants to encourage cultural rather than nuisance tourists.
‘We live in the centre and I see myself the huge increase in foreign
numberplates right now,’ she reportedly said. ‘The average Amsterdammer is
ambivalent about crowds: it’s a nuisance if it’s really too busy but at the
same time we enjoy what the city has to offer, which is why we live here. This
summer, we will see both sides of this.’ Disrespect Longer-term, the city is
also investigating limiting access to coffeeshops to Dutch residents, something
that the mayor supports, and moving the Red Light District to an erotic centre
in another area – although concerns have been raised about whether there is
enough policing to control street dealing. The new tourist approach will use a
team of 78 enforcement officers plus another 24 at the weekends, but Halsema
said that they will not divert district policing from other areas. ‘We will do
what we can with the people we have,’ she told the Parool. Rob Hofland, a city
councillor for D66, said that more tourists will be on the way this summer.
‘It’s only a matter of time before we turn green for travellers and people all
over the world will find us again en masse,’ he said. ‘We have a great cultural
offer and many places in the city that are worth visiting. ‘[But] the message
to visitors who treat our residents and our heritage with disrespect is: don’t
come. If it is your intention to see the most beautiful city in the world this
summer, come to Amsterdam. If your intention is to booze and misbehave, dressed
like a penis, look elsewhere!’ Manners Amsterdam&partners, the economic and
visitor promotion agency, is starting a campaign to promote ‘desired behaviour’
in anticipation of the city centre reopening. ‘This means that businesses can
finally welcome clients again and make money, cultural institutions can allow
visitors to enjoy their offering and residents can meet each other in person
again,’ according to a spokeswoman. ‘But we do not want nuisance from poor
behaviour (like noise, peeing in public, street drunkenness) and so we are
starting an activation campaign targeting the kind of behaviour we do want.’
The campaign, expected to kick off next week, will include physical and online
information, ‘nudges’ and increased policing to increase awareness and good
manners.
Read more
at DutchNews.nl:
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