Amsterdam tells rowdy visitors to 'stay away'
The Dutch capital launched a blunt campaign to deter party tourists, part of a wider rethink of mass tourism.
Amsterdam took an unusually blunt step in its battle with overtourism this year, launching a "stay away" campaign explicitly aimed at deterring the rowdy party tourists whose behaviour has long frustrated residents of the Dutch capital.
The campaign targeted visitors, particularly young men, searching online for a weekend of heavy drinking and drug-taking in the city, serving them discouraging messages warning of fines and the consequences of antisocial behaviour. The message was clear: that kind of visitor was no longer welcome.
The move was part of a broader effort by Amsterdam to manage the pressures of mass tourism on its historic centre, especially the famous red-light district, where residents have complained for years about noise, public drunkenness and a sense that their neighbourhood had been overrun.
The city has introduced a range of measures, from restricting new hotels and cracking down on holiday rentals to banning cannabis smoking in parts of the old centre and moving to relocate some of the red-light district's activity.
Amsterdam's campaign reflected a growing willingness among popular cities to actively discourage certain kinds of tourism, rather than simply welcoming all comers. It raised a pointed question for the travel industry and travellers alike: as beloved destinations push back against the crush, what responsibilities do visitors bear to the living cities they pass through?