Tens of thousands of people watched dozens of brightly decorated boats cruise the historic canals of the Dutch capital Saturday, Aug. 5, 2023, in the most popular event of a six-day Pride festival in Amsterdam that attracts tens of thousands of visitors to the city.
Peter Dejong/AP
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Peter Dejong/AP
Tens of thousands of people watched dozens of brightly decorated boats cruise the historic canals of the Dutch capital on Saturday, August 5, 2023, during the most popular event of Amsterdam’s six-day Pride festival attracting tens of thousands of visitors to the city.
Peter Dejong/AP
Amsterdam’s local government is tackling excessive tourism by banning the creation of new hotels, it announced on Wednesday.
New hotels can only be built if another closes, and the city is urging developers to choose a site outside of downtown.
If a new hotel is built in place of an old one, it must be more modern or more sustainable. Twenty-six hotels that have already obtained permits will not be affected by the ban, the city said.
The move was triggered by Amsterdam’s “Tourism in Balance” policy, created in 2021 following a public initiative in which 30,000 residents called for more control over the tourism industry.
As part of “balanced tourism”, the objective is to limit tourist hotel nights to 20 million per year. In 2023, tourists spent approximately 20.7 million nights in Amsterdam, a figure that does not include vacation rentals, B&B stays or cruises. This means that “the municipal executive is obligated to act,” the city says.
Amsterdam has also tried to curb other tourist behavior, including banning cannabis smoking in parts of the city, closing some clubs and bars early, imposing new limits on canal cruises and transforming some hotels in accommodation or offices.
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