Amsterdam vs. Overtourism: 'Bringing a Balance Back in Our City'

16.07.2024 - 23:13 / skift.com / Dawit Habtemariam

With over 23 million visitors in 2023, Amsterdam is one of the most-visited cities in the world, and it’s popularity continues to increase.

But now, the city wants fewer tourists, said Amsterdam Deputy Mayor Sofyan Mbarki. The ones that do visit need to be better behaved and interested in exploring the city’s real cultural attractions – it wants less partying.

“It’s about behaving, decreasing visitor numbers and bringing a balance back in our city,” Mbarki told Skift.

The plan is taking shape: A limit on cruise ships. Fewer short-term rentals and hotels. Amsterdam’s “Stay Away” campaign says it all.

Starting in 2026, fewer tourists can take a cruise that stops in Amsterdam and beyond after the city lowered the cap on the number of ships that can dock at its main terminal. By 2035, the terminal won’t be in Amsterdam’s city center at all.

Amsterdam’s moves come as there are global steps to combat overtourism. Most recently in Barcelona, thousands have protested, and some protestors sprayed tourists sitting at restaurants with water guns. (‘Tourists Go Home’: Barcelona’s Protests Against Overtourism)

More rental units need to be reserved for residents instead of tourists, said Mbarki. By the end of the year, Amsterdam plans to introduce new short-term rental regulations.

In 2021, the city limited the number of nights a property could be rented out, required hosts to obtain a permit to list their property on Airbnb and other platforms and prohibited short-term rentals in some districts

Thanks to the new restrictions (and the pandemic), listings dropped. “We have now seen a 30% decrease in the listings and we have the intention to do more,” said Mbarki.  “Houses in Amsterdam are to live in, not to rent them to tourists.”

In May 2023, a court ruled that the city can’t prohibit short-term rentals listings in its Burgwallen-Oude Zijde and Burgwallen-Nieuwe Zijde districts.

In April, Amsterdam blocked new hotel developments. “We have a lot of hotels and we wanted to slow down the growth in the number of rooms,” he said.

The new policy is stricter than its previous “no-unless” policy, under which the city limited zones where new hotels could be introduced. “We are tightening up because we have enough rooms in our city,” he said.

Amsterdam has 41,000 hotel rooms and 92,000 beds. With the supply restricted and the city being a bucket list destination, Amsterdam is pricing out more tourists.

“The rooms are getting much more expensive by our policy. The opportunity to get a room in Amsterdam is harder nowadays,” he said.

Amsterdam is again running its “Stay Away” campaign, which aims to deter tourists looking to party recklessly in the city’s Red Light District.

Last fall, however, the mayor acknowledged that the