Amsterdam hopes to attract a different type of tourist after corona. A new image campaign abroad and measures to control visitor flows, such as a ban on Airbnb and a tax for day trippers, should help.
This is stated in a plan presented Thursday by Amsterdam & partners, a collaboration between the municipality and 950 companies and institutions. This plan also wants to end the monoculture in the city center, where almost all facilities are aimed at the tourist.
How do we get valuable visitors to our city? According to director Geerte Udo of Amsterdam & Partners, this was the big question during a tour that she made in recent months at the request of the municipality along with entrepreneurs and residents. Alderman Victor Everhardt (Economic Affairs) received the advice. Amsterdam has long wanted to keep off nuisance visitors (excessive drinking and smoking) and stop entrepreneurs who earn their money at the expense of the quality of life in the capital. For example the Nutella shops.
According to the advice, Amsterdam should focus more on conference and culture visitors. The latter group is interpreted broadly: the Heineken Experience also fits into this. Udo: “Earlier we spoke of more quality tourists, but that term incorrectly suggested that Amsterdam only wants to welcome rich tourists.” Before corona, Amsterdam attracted almost 20 million visitors a year. Udo estimates that 20-25 percent of these visitors showed no respect or interest in the city. “We don’t have to return them. We only want visitors who add value to the city. ”
Congress attendees
She cites conference visitors as an example. According to her, they spend a relatively large amount of money, but also contribute to the business climate of the city. Companies, universities and start-ups benefit from the arrival of all kinds of specialists in a field. The Amsterdam college made 28 million euros available this week, partly intended for an image campaign and to entice conference organizers to opt for Amsterdam. With an emphasis on growth sectors such as healthcare, fintech and artificial intelligence.
Amsterdam & partners advises to ban private holiday rentals (such as Airbnb) completely. According to the advice, the landlords do not contribute to the city (for example with paid jobs or training places) and are taking away scarce space from the housing market. Airbnb is currently banned in some neighborhoods, based on the nuisance legislation.
More than half of all visitors, says Udo, are day trippers. She argues for a tax for this group, because she thinks it is fairer – now hotel guests pay almost all tourist tax. This creates a new instrument to control visitor flows. “We are not thinking about the toll booths around the city, the municipality will have to investigate further.”
During the lockdown at the beginning of this year, Amsterdam’s city center turned into a ghost town. According to many residents, this proved that this part of the city has nothing to offer them anymore. The advice proposes to stimulate neighborhood initiatives and local businesses, and to finance this from the tourist tax. Just like a residents’ pass that provides access to the cultural institutions in your own city.
