Amsterdam is one of the trendiest cities in Europe. Millions of tourists flock to the city every year. That should be regulated more in the future.
Amsterdam – Amsterdam introduces a tourist quota. The upper limit is 20 million overnight stays a year, according to a city ordinance.
The Dutch capital wants to reduce overnight stays by at least ten percent and thus curb the high burden of mass tourism. The WAZ had previously reported on it.
This quota is based on a citizens’ initiative. Around 30,000 residents of the canal city had called for tourism to be limited to a maximum of 12 million overnight stays per year. But the city did not follow suit. She set the upper limit at 20 million. In 2019 there were almost 22 million overnight stays by tourists in Amsterdam. Due to the corona pandemic, tourism has now collapsed completely.
According to the new regulation, the city has to submit the number of overnight stays once a year. As soon as the maximum value is exceeded, the authorities undertake to intervene: Possible measures are an increase in the tourist tax and restriction of private room rentals, for example via Airbnb.
The measures are not new. The city has already tightened the rules for platforms like Airbnb drastically. The number of hotel beds was limited and city tours in the historic center were restricted. Consideration is also being given to outsourcing a large part of prostitution from the red-light district to the edge of the stand and banning the sale of soft drugs to tourists in the coffee shops. dpa
