Words: Aoife Ní Bheirn
A digital discouragement campaign targeting men aged 18 to 35 in Britain is being pushed out by the Amsterdam city council to prevent them from visiting the city and causing a “nuisance”.
The online campaign, which commences this week, will be activated when people in Britain enter terms into search engines such as “stag party Amsterdam”, “cheap hotel Amsterdam” and “pub crawl Amsterdam”.
The campaign consists of warning video adverts describing the risks and consequences of excessive alcohol and drug taking to prevent British tourists from visiting the city and will be expanded to the Netherlands next.
The city council will also be pushing a “how to Amsterdam” awareness campaign that will include posters, screens in hotel lobbies and hosts approaching people to remind them of their manners.
The city has also introduced a ban on cannabis smoking in public in central Amsterdam starting in May, and plans to move the red light district partly to an “erotic centre”.
Amsterdam’s “visitor economy vision” includes an earlier closing time of 02:00 for brothels and bars in the red light district starting this weekend. No new visitors will be allowed in the area from 01:00.
There have also been debates by locals about whether tourists should be banned from the Dutch capital’s cannabis cafes.
Elsewhere on District: Barry’s Tea Release Limited Edition Merch Collab with Claire Prouvost