Amsterdam warns tourists

The Netherlands introduced “Amsterdam rules” to reduce nuisance tourism with the use of specialised websites and campaigns.

The City of Amsterdam website launched “Amsterdam rules”, largely addressing visitors from England, Scotland and Ireland, holding quizzes which ask potential tourists about their plans in Amsterdam and targeting potential issues.

The city centre chief, Sofyan Mbarki, spoke about the campaign: “We are taking a different approach this time. Now we are focusing on the things some tourists associate with the city, associations which we want to demolish.” 

Videos in the “Stay Away” campaign display the problematic situations which many tourists create when visiting Amsterdam.

“The site is now live for British nationals and will soon be published in Italian, Spanish and French. There will also be a website focused on Dutch tourists from outside the capital,” stated Sofyan Mbarki.

The campaign received a contribution of €85,000 by the Dutch justice ministry, and  €55,000 from the city to raise awareness of nuisance tourism. 

The city centre chief highlighted the aim of the project: “We want a different image for our city.”