Cafes in Amsterdam.
Photographer: Ramon Van Flyemen / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Ramon Van Flyemen / AFP / Getty Images
In an effort to clean up its image, Amsterdam aims to restrict a key tourist attraction: its cafes.
Only Dutch residents would be allowed to enter the cannabis outlets at the suggestion of Mayor Femke Halsema. The plan, backed by local police and prosecutors, aims to combat the flow of hard drugs and organized crime related to the marijuana trade.
“The cannabis market is too big and overheated,” Halsema said in emailed comments. “I want to reduce the cannabis market and make it manageable. The residency status is far-reaching, but I see no alternative. “
Halsema presented the plan to Amsterdam council on Friday and began a political debate, including discussions on a transitional agreement with store owners. He expects the policy to take effect at least next year.
The initiative is Amsterdam’s latest step to actively reduce the flow of visitors and improve the quality of life of residents. Crowds have flocked to the city since cheaper flights turned its historic center into a popular weekend destination.
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Prior to coronavirus blockades, its renowned red light district, marijuana shops and quaint canals attracted more than a million visitors a month, more than its permanent population.
“Cafes, especially in the center, operate largely with tourists,” Halsema said. “The increase in tourism has only increased demand” and has attracted crime against hard drugs in the process.
Although the tourist stop of the pandemic has reached the city’s budgets, the first mayor of Amsterdam is determined to reshape the sector once the crisis is over. Being locked in the freewheel marijuana trade could turn off a large number of partygoers.
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A trip to a coffee shop was a “very important” reason for 57% of foreign visitors to the area that includes the red light district, according to a survey commissioned by the city government.
There are 166 cafes in Amsterdam and most would not be needed if the plan were in place. According to the government study, local demand for cannabis would only support 68.
Similar restrictions have already been applied to Maastricht and Den Bosch, which reacted to the overloading of cafes by visitors from Germany, France and Belgium. Efforts are based on a 2013 Dutch law aimed at boosting the local cannabis market and reducing drug tourism.
Halsema says he expects support from the business community, as many downtown businessmen are no longer in favor of Amsterdam’s reputation for unrestricted access to sex and drugs.
“We can be an open, hospitable and tolerant city, but also a city that makes life difficult for criminals and slows down mass tourism,” he said.