Zeeland residents want to take action against mass tourism

The residents of Noord-Beveland, an island known as a vacation destination in the Netherlands, want to take action against increasing tourism. Almost every third house in the Zeeland region is a vacation home. A development that is set to come to a head, according to residents. With the foundation "Wij Zijn Noord-Beveland," the concerned citizens want to appeal to the Council of State to curb tourism development, NPO Radio1 reports.

The municipality is home to around 8,000 people who are otherwise used to peace and quiet and little traffic. However, during the vacation season, the small community is flooded with tourists in summer. This means noise, empty supermarket shelves, garbage, and traffic jams for the residents.

According to Dudok de Wit from the local foundation, the number of tourists continues to rise. "Tourism started here after the island was connected to the mainland by a bridge, which made it easier to get around," he tells the radio station.

Currently, it does not look like the region is taking care of the tourism problem. For example, an existing amusement park is to be expanded. The number of amusement parks has steadily increased over the last 25 years, says Evelien de Vries, chair of the municipal council in the municipality of Wissenkerke. This leads to more tourists and less arable land for residents to use for building vacation homes. "As a result, there has also been a huge fossilization in recent years," explains De Vries.

However, the residents of Noord-Beveland have not lost hope and are fighting for their municipality's non-commercial existence. They have united in the foundation "Wij Zijn Noord-Beveland" and plan to go to the Council of State to prevent further expansion of holiday parks, NPO Radio 1 reports.