Amsterdam announced a new online campaign aimed at attracting tourists other than the Dutch capital’s young partygoers, admitting that a previous initiative in March had not had the desired effect.
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Through online videos starting next year, the city will encourage tourists to view it with a “new look” that focuses on its cultural riches rather than its red light district, bars and coffee shops, which are popular with bachelor parties .
“In recent years, Amsterdam has acquired the image of a city where anything is possible for many people at home and abroad,” said a statement from the city administration published on Tuesday.
She condemned “transgressive” visitors who were only looking for “sensation and vulgar entertainment,” she added.
“They don’t value beauty and friendliness, artistic and cultural offerings,” or exciting events and pleasant neighborhoods, she notes.
Titled “Renew Your Look,” the campaign will tell stories from “real Amsterdammers” to show a different side of Amsterdam. It will be launched next year.
“The aim of the campaign is not to attract more visitors to the city,” the municipality made clear.
“We hope to attract a different kind of visitor,” she added.
A campaign launched in March, first targeting young Brits and then other men aged 18 to 35 in the Netherlands and the rest of the EU, had not had the desired impact, a letter from Mayor Femke Halsema said to the city council.
“While the campaign approach is partly changing the city’s image, it does not result in an immediate reduction in the city’s attractiveness for UK party tourists,” she complained.
Amsterdam also banned smoking cannabis on the streets of the red light district, a move that came with tighter alcohol restrictions and an earlier weekend closure of cafes, bars, restaurants and brothels.
Authorities are also considering moving sex workers to an “erotic center” in the suburbs. But the project sparked an outcry, particularly among sex workers.