Amsterdam closes to cruise ships to end tourist 'locust plague'

Cruise ships bring waves of day-trippers to Amsterdam. benefit the economy.»

The city's liberal-controlled city council voted to close Amsterdam's passenger terminal, where more than 100 ships dock every year, as part of the latest in a series of measures to crack down on visitors to the Dutch capital.

“A polluting cruise is not in line with our city’s environmental ambitions,” said Ilana Ruderkerk, leader of the liberal D66 party, which runs the city alongside workers and green politicians. «Cruise ships in the city center do not fit in with Amsterdam's goal of reducing the number of tourists.»

A study in 2021 found that daily nitrogen emissions from one cruise ship arriving in Amsterdam were the same as 31,000 trucks driving one lap around the city's ring road.

Ms Ruderkerk recently said that tourists disembarking from cruise ships in the city are “like a locust plague.”

“They move downtown in one fell swoop, with all the inconveniences that come with it,” she wrote last month. “They don't have much time for museums, but they visit the red light district. The local economy is unlikely to benefit from an emergency visit. The advantage belongs mainly to international cruise lines.

“Unpleasant tourists”

Amsterdam has introduced a series of measures that it hopes will keep tourism below 10 million overnight stays a year after almost four times the 5.3 million in 2010.

Earlier this year, the city launched a publicity campaign to discourage Britons from visiting if they want to drink and do drugs.

The 'Stay Away' campaign targeted Britons aged 18 to 35 year olds who have been dubbed «snoopy tourists» searching the internet for bachelor parties, marijuana and booze ideas in the city.

The city has also agreed to relocate sex workers from Amsterdam's famed red-light district De Wallen to a purpose-built super-brothel elsewhere as part of a broader tourism «reboot».

Amsterdam has long been trying to shed its reputation as one of Europe's top destinations for drunkards and drug addicts. sex tourism.

Attention has again been focused on attracting high-spending tourists who stay longer to visit museums, culture and historical canals.