A'dam backtracking on tourism limit shows promises to locals are worthless: Entrepreneur

The fact that Amsterdam is arguing in court that its promised tourism limit of 20 million overnight stays per year was just an “ambition” and not a legally binding target shows that the “promises made to residents are legally worthless,” entrepreneur Alexander Klöpping said on LinkedIn. He is financially backing the foundation that is trying to hold the city government to its promise in court.

In 2021, following a survey signed by over 30,000 Amsterdam residents, the municipality of Amsterdam pledged to limit tourism to 20 million overnight stays per year. That target number was only achieved during the coronavirus pandemic, when global travel restrictions brought tourism to a halt. Once the restrictions were lifted, tourist numbers quickly rebounded. According to Klöpping, Amsterdam is on track for 25 million overnight stays this year.

The Amsterdam Has a Choice Foundation took the city to court to try to force it to keep its promise to reduce tourism. In court, the city argued that residents cannot derive any rights from a promise made by the municipality. According to Klöpping, the city basically argued that democratic promises mean nothing.

The lawsuit comes right in the middle of the campaigns for the municipal elections on March 18. “How incredibly cynical it is to declare a democratic agreement with Amsterdammers so worthless just before the municipal elections?” Klöpping asks himself. “And then you wonder why trust in politics is so low.”

Overtourism is still a major concern for many residents of Amsterdam, and that is reflected in the election campaigns. A massive 29 of the 34 parties participating in the election have something about reducing the number of tourists in their election programs, according to the voting guide Stemwijzer.

That includes the three parties that form the Amsterdam government’s current coalition - GroenLinks, PvdA, and D66.

“We actually want fewer tourists in the city,” the PvdA says in its election program, along with promises to spread tourists more evenly across the different districts.

“Too many tourists are coming to the city,” GroenLinks says. “GroenLinks will do everything in its power to limit tourist numbers and give Amsterdammers more space again.”

“D66 wants the municipality to take measures to reduce the number of tourists and spread them out more evenly,” the D66 says, according to Stewmwijzer.

PvdA and GroenLinks are also among 15 parties with plans to ban vacation rentals in the city center, and the PvdA also wants to ban international tourists from buying cannabis at Amsterdam coffeeshops.

The current lawsuit between the city and a foundation of local residents and businesses seems to contradict these election promises.