With concurrent deliberations over restricting access to its historic downtown area's famed Red Light District, Amsterdam is now considering barring tourists from visiting its cannabis-selling coffee houses, which are, in themselves, a major draw, according to new research.
Mayor Femke Halsema alluded to the idea in her recent briefing, which detailed the results of a survey commissioned last year from the Amsterdam statistics service to investigate just how heavily cannabis cafes, window brothels and budget flights factor into downtown Amsterdam's appeal in the minds of young tourists.
Specifically, foreign visitors between the ages of eighteen and 35 were surveyed, to target the age group that's already been identified as the major public nuisance-makers (particularly those of the male variety) in Amsterdam's medieval city center, where the infamous Red Light District and a concentration of cannabis cafés can be found.
The aim of the investigation was to determine, "what would happen with the willingness of tourists to visit Amsterdam if the availability or accessibility of one or more of these factors would decrease or disappear?"
Struggling to balance the negative effects of supporting over 17.4 million overnight tourists per year, Amsterdam-like many cities suffering from overtourism-has been actively conducting research and conceiving of potential measures to curb the impact of excessive visitor volume on its cultural treasures, its municipal infrastructure and its residents' quality of life.
The research revealed that 65 percent of this demographic visits coffee houses to consume cannabis, with over half (57 percent) citing these venues as a very important motivator for visiting Amsterdam. 44 percent indicated that a ban on access to cannabis cafés would constitute a reason for them not to come to Amsterdam anymore (eleven percent) or, at least, less often (34 percent).
While the Netherlands' laws already dictate that cannabis cafés in any municipality may require proof of national residency from patrons, this rule isn't enforced in the popular tourist destinations of Amsterdam and Rotterdam, revealed CNN Travel.
The investigation also found that 22 percent of respondents consider the downtown district's notorious window prostitution a very important factor in its appeal, although only one percent called it the main reason to visit the city. Should the windows be shuttered, nine percent of those surveyed said they'd stop coming altogether, with 25 percent reporting that they'd visit less often. If the Red Light District were to start charging entrance fees, 32 percent of those polled said they'd never go there again, while 44 percent said they'd merely visit more infrequently.
The results of the study will be included in city officials' ongoing discussions on ways to limit the influx of tourists into Amsterdam's overwhelmed historic center, with an eye towards implementing policies to make cannabis coffee houses less attractive to tourists and reduce associated tourist nuisance. Emphasizing that there is not yet a plan in place to ban foreign residents from such coffee shops, Sebastiaan Meijer, spokesman for the mayor, told DutchNews.nl: "It's going to take some time to go to the next steps, and there is no real clear majority [in the city council] for solutions."
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