On Tuesday, the local government of Amsterdam launched a communication campaign to discourage the arrival of tourists who adopt problematic behavior for public order: a problem with which the Dutch city, also a destination for tourism linked to marijuana consumption and legal prostitution has been confronted for some time. The campaign consists of a series of targeted online ads that appear to those looking for information on certain types of places, such as hostels, pubs or places to organize parties, such as stag dos.
The campaign is called “Stay Away”: the first to be addressed are male tourists from the United Kingdom who are between 18 and 35 years old, considered by the local government to be among the most problematic. During the year the campaign will also be extended to other tourists from other parts of the Netherlands and other European countries.
The ads contain warnings about the risks and consequences of excessive behavior related to alcohol or drug abuse: for example, the possibility of receiving fines, committing crimes or overdoing it to the point of compromising your health. “Visitors are welcome, but not if they misbehave and cause a nuisance. In this case, as a city we say: rather not, stay away,” Amsterdam’s economy councilor Sofyan Mbarki told the Telegraaf.
Amsterdam has been trying for some time to limit the consequences of the most problematic tourism. For example, a discussion is underway on the opportunity to move the famous “red light district” elsewhere, the one where many sex workers work and which attracts thousands of people every day, also in this case with various problems of public order and nuisance for the women who work there. Also in this district, the Amsterdam city council has decided that from mid-May it will no longer be possible to smoke marijuana on the street and has brought forward the closing time of some clubs.
– Read also: Amsterdam’s red light district needs to change
With similar objectives, another communication campaign will also start in Amsterdam this month aimed at those already in the city: it is called “How to Amsterdam” (“How to stay in Amsterdam”) and will consist of a series of online notices, for example on the prohibition of urinating in public, on the risks of alcohol abuse, on disturbing noises and on the illegal purchase of drugs.
The “Stay Away” campaign had been announced a few months ago and had provoked very different reactions: there had been cities, such as Edinburgh, which had appreciated it and had thought of emulating it, while some observers had argued that notices of this type they would have been really effective in curbing the problem.
