For many, Amsterdam is regarded as the perfect location for a short city break where you can make the most of the relaxed cannabis laws and take a wander down the red-light district, taking snaps with accompanying prostitutes. Yet for male Brits aged 18-35 this is all about to change as the Dutch city council is set to roll out a ‘stay away’ campaign targeted at a demographic it argues is responsible for anti-social behaviour that takes place in the city every year.
Heavy drinkers and tourists stumbling around in hallucinogenic dazes are not uncommon scenes for inhabitants living in the vibrant city, and they have had enough of it. As a popular stag party destination, tourists hang around the streets until the early hours making disruptive noise and engaging in unruly behaviour that keeps the local residents up all night, posing a threat to their safety and impending on their livelihoods. The Dutch city council is transforming the tourist perception of Amsterdam as a party city through future legislation surrounding its public attitude to prostitution, where the sex-workers are known to pose in the windows in a bid to lure in customers. Issuing cover-ups on brothels and banning the smoking of cannabis in the street will deter those making pilgrimages to the city for the sake of the sesh, alongside the imposing of a 2am drinking curfew.
Amy, a twenty year old student recently had Amsterdam down as one of her top interrailing destinations, yet with the recent ‘Stay Away’ campaign she doesn’t feel as welcome stating ‘I couldn’t believe it when I found out about the new rules set to be issued, everyone talks about the amazing experiences for young people in Amsterdam and now I feel like I won’t be able to relate to that experience in the same way’.
It comes as no surprise that these recent legislations are aimed at the behaviour of those from Britain as 2.5 million British tourists travel to Amsterdam each year, making up more than ten percent of its total annual visitors. Putting its local residents first in the face of tourism will ignite fury and disappointment in many Brits who planned to unleash their boozy wrath on the city in the next few months, being forced to look elsewhere when planning interrailing routes, and the perfect city break.
Edited By Aminat Akintobi
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