Trinkets: It's not only the souvenir vendors affected by Amsterdam's over-tourism backlash. Photo / AP
Trinkets: It's not only the souvenir vendors affected by Amsterdam's over-tourism backlash. Photo / AP
Plastic tulips, tatty windmills and battered clogs line the shop fronts of the Dutch capital. Selling trinkets to the city's sizeable tourist market has become a mainstay of the city's economy. However local sentiment is turning against these shops with recent moves to reclaim the city for Amsterdam residents.
The Netherlands' highest administrative court has upheld an Amsterdam municipality ban on new stores in the city's historic heart that sell goods specifically to tourists.
The Council of State ruling Wednesday is a victory for the Dutch capital's attempts to rein in the negative effects of the huge number of visitors crowding its streets.
Cheese shop: The city is putting limits on retailers exclusively targeting tourists. Photo / Peter Dejong, AP
The city which is famous for its tolerant attitude has finally said enough is enough.
The court says that the ban on new tourist stores in downtown Amsterdam, which went into force in October 2017, doesn't breach European Union rules.
The ban is aimed at halting the spread of stores selling products like mementos and cheese that cater almost exclusively to tourists. The municipality argues that they spoil the city for local residents.
Millions of tourists visit Amsterdam every year, leading to overcrowding of its narrow, cobbled streets and many complaints from residents.
It's not only the city's souvenir vendors who have been targeted by the backlash against over-tourism.
At the beginning of the month the iconic "I Amsterdam" sign that stood pride of place in front of the Rijksmuseum was removed. The city council carted away the 24-metre civic sculpture on the back of trucks, with little warning. The piece had been in place since 2004 as the centerpiece to a tourism campaign to attract more visitors to the city.
In those 14 years it had been the backdrop to many holiday snaps and over 1.3million Instagram posts.
In that time visitor numbers have doubled from 4.2 million to a projection of almost 9 million this year.
For the 741,000 native Amsterdamers it can feel as if their city has been hijacked by tourists.
'No longer fitting for a modern city': Amsterdam's red light district the Wallen. Photo / Getty images
The recent measures are going some way to remove the city's reputation as a playground for foreign visitors. Particularly the notorious red-light district which has led to a seedier reputation that Amsterdam is eager to move on from.
Like all of the city's other tourist traps the future of the 700-year-old city liberty of the Wallen is up for debate.
Femke Halsema, Amsterdam's first female mayor, has declared the area is no longer fitting for a modern city.
"Amsterdam is a place where people live," the mayor said, in a recent interview with Bloomberg. "This is not a frozen tourist spot where life becomes difficult. We need to think about what kind of tourists we want to attract".
