Amsterdam is set to ban the number of cruise ships entering the city in a bid to crack down on overtourism.
The Dutch capital has had enough of tourists and earlier this year it banned the construction of new hotels, and perhaps even more radically, officials also capped the number of tourists a year allowed to stay in hotels overnight.
And now Amsterdam has gone one step further in discouraging tourists from visiting by launching plans to relocate its passenger cruise terminal to outside of the city centre.
Currently, the city’s cruise terminal is centrally located with Amsterdam Central Station, only a 15-minute walk away.
This could all change as by 2035, none of the boats will be able to dock in the iconic capital.
Amsterdam City Council believes this move will “limit the growth of tourism and combat nuisance.”
The city’s deputy mayor Hester van Buren added: “Sea cruising is a polluting form of tourism and contributes to crowds and emissions in the city. By limiting sea cruises, requiring shore power and aiming for the cruise terminal [PTA] to move from its current location in 2035, the council is responsibly implementing the council’s proposal to stop sea cruises”, according to euro news.
The Dutch capital’s plans to cut cruises follows similar measures issued by Santorini and Mykonos who are expected to cap the number of cruise ships allowed to visit as the islands struggle to cope with the influx of tourists.
Around 33 million people visited Greece in 2023, some five million more than in the previous year, with holidaymakers drawn to the southeast European nation’s beautiful beaches, cuisine, and wealth of historical sites.
The Greek National Tourism Organisation said that cruise ships carried seven million people into Greece on 5,230 dockings in 2023, compared to 4.38 million people on 4,614 ships the year before.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis believes putting a cap on cruise liners would bring down the footfall on the Cycladic Islands, which he said are “clearly suffering”.
River cruises are also earmarked to be cut in Amsterdam. Last year approximately 2,300 boats docked in Amsterdam. But by 2028, the local government wants that brought down to 1,150.
According to Dutch News, the move would slash the number of tourists visiting Amsterdam by around 271,000.
While many British tourists visit Amsterdam to admire its canals or cultural highlights, it’s a popular stag party destination with the city’s late-night club scene, cannabis coffee shops and red light district.
However, locals have had enough of rowdy Britons from visiting the Netherlands’ capital. Many party-loving Brits are attracted by the city’s late-night club scene, cannabis coffee shops and red light district.
On Reddit, a local resident has accused British tourists of “trashing the city”.