has nothing been done with the corona lee?
1. How many tourists can Amsterdam expect this time?
Speaking of overnight stays, there will be between 14.3 and 17.5 million this year, according to new tourism forecasts of Research and Statistics (O&S), the research bureau of the municipality of Amsterdam. There are also about 17 to 19 million day trippers, and roughly 600,000 to 800,000 people who visit Amsterdam by cruise ship.
How many tourists will visit Amsterdam depends on many things. Developments developments, geopolitical tensions due to the war in Ukraine, and future new measures should corona economic resurface.
After 2022, tourism will be quite developed, the municipality outlines in various scenarios. depending on all those uncertain factors, we can expect 19 to 23 million overnight tourist stays, 24 to 25 million day visits and 800,000 to 900,000 cruise passengers in 2024.
“The autumn of 2022 will be an important moment,” says Jan van der Borg, professor of tourism at the universities of Leuven and Venice. “If the coronavirus does not make a definite comeback in 2022, the maximum scenario is the most likely. If the virus again leads to drastic travel restrictions, the recovery will certainly take a little longer.” In that case, Van der Borg expects estimates to be at the lower end.
Van der Borg expects that the doubling of international tourism demand forecast by the World Tourism Organization in 2015 will be reflected in all tourist figures by 2030. “And not just for Amsterdam.” In 2015 – the year that crowds in Amsterdam were officially recognized as a ‘problem’ – 17.3 million people visited the city. That would mean that by 2030 we released above 30 million.
2. What was it like before the pandemic?
In 2019, Amsterdam had 22 million overnight tourist stays, 24 million day visits and approximately 800,000 cruise passengers.
In short: the city is moving rapidly towards the pre-situation.
3. How many tourists think the city is ‘too many’?
Very simple: more than 20 million tourist overnight stays per year. Last year, the municipality adopted a special regulation in which it was agreed that Amsterdam expects between 10 and 20 million overnight stays per year.
It has therefore been agreed that something must be done if those quantities are planned in the forecasts. As soon as the total number of overnight stays exceeds 18 million per year, concrete measures must be devised in order not to exceed 20 million. Consider, for example, increasing tourist tax or owning rental platforms.
The same rule applies the other way around: in the event that the city expects 12 million, it must come to attract more tourists.
That regulation was also adopted by the initiators of an initiative called Amsterdam has a choice† The peace that descended on the city in one fell swoop during the lockdowns had to be seized by the city council to work on the tourism problem, a group of Amsterdam residents thought. Not only should the focus be on being low-budget tourists and attracting quality guests: the city should also draw a concrete limit in the number of overnight stays. 30,000 people signed the petition, but according to Van der Borg ‘far too little’ has been done with the opportunities offered by the corona crisis.
4. What is the municipality doing against the crowds?
A hotel stop, fewer tourist shops, an alcohol ban, no more pub crawls and tours in the Red Light District: the city council has done everything in recent years to counteract the crowds.
Now that tourism is rapidly increasing again, Mayor Halsema has taken extra steps in the tourist center. Cafés on the Nieuwmarkt and the Red Light District have had to tear down their extensive ‘corona terrace’ and shops are no longer allowed to sell alcohol after 4 p.m. from Thursday to Sunday. One-way traffic has been set up in several alleys in the Red Light District. It is being examined whether access gates around the Red Light District are an option to prevent crowds and nuisance.
Van der Borg thinks it won’t help at all. “The alcohol ban and the curtailment of the terraces is anti-cut, and too much is being focused on one piece of the overtourism puzzle.”
As far as he is concerned, the city lacks a clear vision about the role of tourism within urban policy. “Starting with a radical repositioning of the destination Amsterdam. Explicit attention should also be paid to tourism as a theme in coalition agreements and by the mayor and aldermen, or via a portfolio. In addition, work must be done on the right of visitor flows. For example, through reservation systems.”