While many countries spend millions on the promotion of their resorts, Amsterdam is doing everything to ensure that fewer tourists come to the country. Why does this happen?
Locals in Amsterdam constantly complain that too many travelers come to their city: crowds of tourists walk the streets, cafes and restaurants are crowded, it is impossible to rent apartments and rooms, and there are eternal traffic jams on the roads. The Dutch authorities sided with the townspeople, so they decided to reduce the tourist flow.
The city authorities have issued an official ban on the construction of new hotels. Now, in order to build a hotel, you need to make a request to the government, and you can get permission only in three cases: it will be environmentally friendly, located in the suburbs of Amsterdam - and some old hotel will close...
In addition, the Netherlands wants to raise the tourist tax: if earlier travelers paid 7% of the cost of a hotel room, now they will have to fork out 12.5%. The rule also applies to those who sail on a liner to the ports of Amsterdam.
Although tour operators are offering new destinations, including to Amsterdam, more and more countries are raising their tourist taxes. The other day it became known that the authorities of the island of Capri doubled the cost of entry due to complaints from local residents: they are very dissatisfied with the fact that they cannot safely rent a house, get to work by ferry due to overcrowded transport. And on the island of Tenerife in Spain, 8 people went on a hunger strike to stop the country's authorities from developing new projects to attract travelers from all over the world. According to the protesters, due to the construction of new hotels and a large flow of tourists, the country's ecology is deteriorating, and the life of local residents is becoming much more complicated.
Whether these methods will help reduce the flow of tourists is unknown. But the plus of the whole situation is that the authorities take the side of local residents and make their lives more comfortable - this is pleasant and humane.
