Amsterdam authorities have banned the construction of new hotels in the city

Amsterdam city authorities on Wednesday accepted a decree that will prohibit the construction of new hotels, inns and hostels in the city. Now a new hotel in the capital of the Netherlands can only be built if one of the existing ones closes. At the same time, the new one should not have more places than the old one, and it must be better than its predecessor – for example, in terms of its environmental characteristics.

The city government decree states that in order for the city to remain comfortable for both its guests and residents, the number of overnight tourist stays there should not exceed 20 million per year.

Amsterdam, one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe, has been trying to reduce the flow of tourists in recent years. In their opinion, there are so many tourists in the city center that they interfere with the daily life of citizens. In addition, the city authorities would like to achieve a restructuring of tourism: to increase the number of wealthy connoisseurs of culture and history among city guests, and to reduce the percentage of cheap tours, as well as poor youth, sex tourists and lovers of soft drugs legal in the Netherlands.

A year ago, Deputy Mayor of Amsterdam Sofian Mbarki offered a package of measures aimed at limiting mass tourism in the capital. Among other things, it was proposed to limit the operation of legal brothels in Amsterdam’s “red light district”, and in the future, completely evict it to the outskirts of the city, as well as limit the sale of alcohol in the center of the capital, sell soft drugs only to residents of the Netherlands, and reduce the number of river cruises and sightseeing tours. The bill has drawn sharp criticism from members of the tourism and sex industries.