Amsterdam‘s tourism has recently increased exponentially and a new coalition of parties has announced radical measures to fight the disruptive and intense tourism that is worrying the residents of the Dutch capital.
The Green party, GroenLinks, has decided to ban Airbnb short-term rentals to a max of 30 days in busy areas, raising also tourist taxes to 7%, bringing €105 million a year by 2022. The other measures include to stop cruise ships from docking at the central port and restrict the “fun trips” such as booze cruise, beer bikes and Segways runs.
Yvette Hofman, a spokesperson for GroenLinks, stated: “This is a subject that really matters to residents, who have felt under attack by the increasing crowds, partly due to Airbnb and illegal hotels. They have complained that they no longer know their neighbors and of a tourist monoculture in the center. This is about balance.”
GroenLinks leader, Rutger Groot Wassink added: “International tourism is part of it because the obvious positive effects are taking on a dark side in the nuisance caused by a decline of liveability for the inhabitants.”
Business Insider also reported that: “With a population of around 800,000, the city expects 18 million tourists in 2018, an increase of 20% from 2016 levels, anti-tourist and anti-expatriate sentiment have been steadily on the rise in Amsterdam, as both are blamed in part for helping drive housing prices increasingly out of the reach of ordinary Dutch people.”
So if you were planning to attend ADE, Drumcode, Loveland, or Awakenings Festivals just keep in mind this.
