Like many cities in Europe, Amsterdam is suffering from over-tourism.
Known as the most permissive city in Europe, with tourists (and a few locals) smoking weed and drinking in public or ogling the girls in the window of the Red Light District. Now signs announce that you’ll be fined as the popular city tries to crack down on rowdy tourists, and the infamous Red Light area must close two hours earlier at night.
Just recently, Amsterdam city council closed a cruise ship terminal to limit mass tourism.
Now, they’re banning the building of new hotels, saying, “We want to make and keep the city livable for residents and visitors.”
Under the new regulation, a new hotel may only be built “under certain conditions, if a hotel closes elsewhere,” the city said. The hotel must also “be better,” like being more sustainable. This way, they keep the same amount of hotel rooms by not adding more.
Along with the hotel ban, the city is also limiting the number of overnight stays to 20 million for the year.