"Coming to Amsterdam to get high lose control = hospital visit permanent damage to health. So coming to Amsterdam to get high? Don't come." The City Council of the capital of the Netherlands has launched this week a campaign aimed at young Britons who want to visit it: if they are only going to do alcohol and drug tourism, they better refrain from going.
The campaign will initially be aimed at UK men between the ages of 18 and 35, although it is expected that it will later be extended to the whole of the Netherlands and other European countries. According to the data, it is usually men of this age range who use the most traffic in the central Red Light District and who create the most noise and coexistence problems in the area. If a person with these characteristics types in his search engine "Amsterdam bachelor party"; "Amsterdam cheap hotels" or "bar hopping" in the city will show these videos.
In one of them you can see a young man who is arrested by the police, in which they remember that ending a criminal record after a trip to the city is not a good idea, because it equates to "lower prospects" in the future. In the other you can see a boy under the influence of drugs and how an ambulance takes him to a hospital.
From the City Council they defend that the campaign tries to discourage the arrival of uncivil tourists and is part of a series of measures to improve the city and control mass tourism of which Amsterdam is no stranger. “Visitors will still be welcome, but not if they show bad behavior or cause noise. In this case, the city says: you better not come”, explains Sofyan Mbarki, deputy mayor and in charge of economic affairs and the city center.
Amsterdam is one of the most visited cities in the world. Among its attractions are the canals, the architecture and an enviable range of museums, although it is also usually frequented by young people attracted by a much more lax drug policy than in other countries - the consumption and purchase of cannabis, hashish or hallucinogenic mushrooms in certain places is legal for adults– as well as prostitution.
Its popularity in recent years has led the City Council to rethink what kind of city they want to be in the future, as have other large cities such as Barcelona, which find themselves in the dichotomy of attracting tourism, but not a runaway one. which causes serious problems for the residents. "We have to do more in the coming years if we want to offer tourism a sustainable place (...), if we want our city to remain livable we have to opt for restrictions now instead of irresponsible growth," explains Mbarki.
Likewise, for visitors who are already in the city, another campaign entitled "How to Amsterdam" will also be used to inform tourists about civility rules and respect for residents, especially in the center. They will also be warned of the consequences in case of uncivil behavior (such as urinating in public spaces) or buying drugs from street vendors (something prohibited and punishable by law) through hotels or in ads on social networks.
Amsterdam has been seeking for some time to improve its tourist attraction and, at the same time, to be a pleasant and livable city for its residents. In 2018 he already carried out a campaign similar to the one this week, and recently he has also announced changes in the Red Light District. To avoid crowds and coexistence problems, an "Erotic Center" will be created for 100 sex workers away from the surroundings of Dam Square.
The city is now looking for the most appropriate place to locate it. Among the possibilities is the area near the congress fair, in the vicinity of which are several offices, including the headquarters of the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The agency recently expressed in a statement its "great concern" about these plans. “The change of location of the Red Light District is motivated by concerns derived from noise, drug trafficking, drunkenness and public disorder (…). Placing the Erotic Center in the vicinity of the EMA offices will probably generate the same negative impacts, ”he criticized. For the moment, the City Council assures that, if it is close to the EMA, it will be “at least 500 meters away”.
