Amsterdam appears to be surging to the lead among cities pushing back against surging tourism, perhaps, even, to the point of being unfriendly.
The city’s newly-elected council is moving forward on a package of measures aimed at reducing tourism, which has continued to grow despite the previous council’s plan to keep visits under 20 million a year (last year’s total reached 23.7 million). The measures include a big rise in tourism taxes, a complete ban on ocean cruise ships, and using funds from the tourism tax to buy and close businesses aimed at tourism in the city center.
The basic tourism tax, assessed at 12 percent of the price of overnight accommodations, would rise to 16% for next year, and then continue to increase each year, reaching 20% by 2030. There’s also a €15 a day fee for day-trippers arriving on cruises but not staying overnight in the city; presumably that tax would expire when the cruise port is closed to ocean vessels. The agreement among the city government coalition partners calls for directing much of the funds toward city clean-up and removal of tourism-oriented businesses from the city’s core.
And, to top the cake, the plan calls for shutting down the city’s tourism promotion office altogether. Decisions on the plan will come after council discussions next week.
