23 April 2024 , 14:10
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The number of river cruises entering Amsterdam is to be halved in the latest effort to combat overtourism.
Amsterdam City Council has now confirmed plans to cut the number of boats that enter the Capital's waterways from the 2,300 which arrived last year to 1,150 by 2028. By doing so, officials hope to thin out crowds of tourists as well as clean up the city's air by reducing the number of polluting ships.
Cruises are particularly disruptive during the spring bulb season, when around 1,000 ships anchor in Amsterdam and then pack tourists onto coaches to drive out of the city to Keukenhof, located about 25 miles away. The city council has argued this kind of tourism is of low value to Amsterdam.
However, each year about 380,000 tourists extend their stay for a few days before or after their cruise, Cruise Hive reported. The limit will bring this down to an estimated 217,000, costing the city around 63 million euros in tourist income.
Overtourism has become a big issue in the city (Getty Images)“I am not saying this is going to solve the problem of too many tourists. But we are not going to divide tourists up into good and bad. This is one of a string of measures to reduce the number of tourists in total. It is about the overcrowding and the coaches parked all over the pavements," Councilor Hester Van Buren said during a presentation of the plan this week. “Overtourism is a worldwide problem, and tourists don’t like it when places are so full either. But we can’t simply put a fence around Amsterdam.”
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The City Council has said that the number of ships had almost doubled since 2011, with 500,000 river cruise passengers visiting the city each year under current rules.
A statement from the council said: “Amsterdam must be and remain liveable, for residents and visitors. That is why we take measures to combat overtourism. We want to halve the number of river cruise ships in the city within five years to a maximum of 1,150 in 2028. Fewer river cruises means less crowds and more quality of life."
The move comes a year after Amsterdam City Council banned ocean going cruise ships from docking in the city centre. A law stopping the large vessels from stopping at the Amsterdam Cruise Terminal located next to the Amsterdam Central Station and within walking distance of the historic old city was passed last July.
The latest measures are one of many designed to tackle overtourism in Amsterdam, which has become an increasingly hot button political issue.
This year the Dutch capital has increased its tourist tax in a continued effort to crack down on rowdy tourists. The new rate is the highest in Europe and the fourth highest globally. The new tax rate for overnight visitors is 12.5% of room price, up substantially from 7%.
Late in 2023 it became illegal to smoke cannabis on the street in Amsterdam's red light district. From mid-May last year lighting up has been forbidden in public spaces in the inner city between 4pm and 1am from Thursday to Sunday.
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