(CNN) Amsterdam is telling young British men to ‘stay away’ if they plan to visit the city to let loose and ‘romp’.
The Dutch capital’s new online campaign to combat disruptive tourism launched this week and is aimed at visitors aged between 18 and 35, the city’s local authority said in a press release on Tuesday.
When British tourists search the internet for terms such as ‘bachelorette party Amsterdam’, ‘cheap hotel Amsterdam’ or ‘pub crawl Amsterdam’, a video advertisement appears warning them of the consequences of drinking too much alcohol, using drugs or engaging in antisocial anger behaviour.
A video shows the arrest of a drunk young man. The accompanying text reads: “Come to Amsterdam for a messy night + get trashed = €140 fine + criminal record = less chance.” It adds: “So you’re coming to Amsterdam for a messy night? Stay away.”
Another video shows an unconscious person being taken to hospital in an ambulance, with text that reads: “Come to Amsterdam to do drugs + lose control = hospital trip + permanent health damage = concerned family.” It goes on to say : “So you’re coming to Amsterdam for drugs? Stay away.”
“Visitors remain welcome, but not if they misbehave and cause nuisance. In that case, as a city, we will say: better not, stay away,” Deputy Mayor Sofyan Mbarki said in the press release.
“Amsterdam is already taking a lot of action against excessive tourism and nuisance and we are taking more action than other major cities in Europe. But we have to do more (in) the coming years if we want to give tourism a sustainable place in our city,” he continued, adding that to keep the city livable one must opt for “restraint rather than irresponsible growth.” decide.
Tourists from EU countries could be next
The “Stay Away” campaign could be extended later in the year to visitors from the Netherlands and other EU countries, who the local authority said could potentially cause nuisance.
Amsterdam will also launch a ‘How to Amsterdam’ campaign this month, aimed at visitors who are already in the city. Social media and street signs warn tourists not to get drunk, make too much noise, buy drugs from street dealers and not urinate in public.
The city government is also in talks with bachelor party providers to work out how they can reduce disruptive tourism in the city center and is awaiting research on the possibility of collecting a tourist tax.
Last month, Amsterdam announced a ban on marijuana use on the streets and several restrictions on alcohol consumption in its red-light district, which is home to about 10% to 15% of the city’s tourism industry.
This year, the city is expected to receive more than 18 million overnight visitors – the number at which the City Council is “obliged to intervene” under a 2021 regulation entitled Amsterdam Tourism in Balance.