Latest travel news from Amsterdam could leave tourists disappointed

Amsterdam has made a massive change this summer to deal with over-tourism, which may leave many first-time visitors in the city disappointed.

Amsterdam has banned cruise ships in a bid to cut down the inflow of tourists and reduce pollution from the giant vessels, reported CNN. The cruise ships are not in line with Amsterdam's sustainable ambitions, leading to the city council's decision to close the central cruise terminal on the River IJ near Amsterdam's main train station.

Is Amsterdam permanently closing cruise ships?

A spokesperson for Amsterdam Deputy Mayor Hester van Buren, who has responsibility for the city's port, revealed that the council approved a proposal on Thursday to close the city's cruise ship terminal. In recent times, cruise ships have become a problem in Amsterdam, with more than 100 mooring in the Dutch capital every year.

However, Dick de Graaff, director of Cruise Port Amsterdam which operates the terminal in the city center, has said that the "council's call is to relocate the terminal" and not shut it permanently.

"There is no immediate closing of the terminal. The council's call is to relocate the terminal – and we await a follow-up from the alderman on investigations," De Graaf said.

Amsterdam is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe and is considered on the same level as Paris, Rome, Venice, and Bern in terms of popularity. However, the Dutch capital is now struggling to manage the number of visitors that are sky rocketing again in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.

City council trying to scrub up Amsterdam

The Dutch capital has been attracting nearly 20 million travellers every year, most of whom are drawn by the city's party character. By 2025, the tally of tourists is expected to rise to 23 million. Under a 2021 ordinance called "Amsterdam Tourism in Balance," when the number of overnight visitors reaches 18 million, the council is "obliged to intervene."

Amsterdam's city council has been trying to polish the city, with cannabis smoking already being banned on the streets of the red-light district. Lighting up is now prohibited in public spaces in the inner city between 4 pm and 1 am from Thursday to Sunday, while a ban on take-away cannabis sales is also being considered.

Earlier this year in March, the council began an online campaign called "Stay Away," requesting young British men, who were planning to hold their bachelor parties in Amsterdam, to stay away. This has been followed up with the council's latest decision to ban the cruise ships, according to Mirror.

The cruise firms that could be affected by the new ban include Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, P&O Cruises, Fred Olsen, Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Regent Seven Seas, Oceania Cruises, Hurtigruten, and Princess Cruises, as per the same Mirror report.

Cruise ships cause a lot of air pollution

Ilana Rooderkerk, a politician with Netherlands' liberal D66 party, recently compared cruise tourists to a type of "plague of locusts" descending all at once on the city.

"Cruise ships in the centre of the city don't fit in with Amsterdam's task of cutting the number of tourists," said Rooderkerk, whose liberal D66 party runs the city along with the Labour party and environmentalists.

The other important reason for removing cruise ships is to lower air pollution levels in Amsterdam. A study in 2021 stated that one big cruise ship produced the same levels of nitrogen oxides (NOx) in one day as 30,000 trucks. While other mooring sites away from the city centre have been under consideration for some time, no concrete decision has been taken yet, according to BBC.

Meanwhile, in a bid to "limit tourism and prevent nuisance," Amsterdam is also planning to curb river cruises, convert hotels into offices and impose earlier closing times on bars and clubs. However, it's doubtful the city center will become a cruise free zone anytime soon. Amsterdam's deputy mayor's spokesperson has admitted that the proposal will "take some time" to implement.