Opposition Labour councillors in Amsterdam want council marketing officials to stop selling Amsterdam as a party city and take action to ensure that tourism does not drive out other businesses.

The PvdA, which virtually ran the city until the the most recent local elections, is launching its campaign to limit the impact of tourism on Monday evening. Current estimates say the number of visitors to Amsterdam will almost double to 30 million a year by 2025.

‘There is a real risk that Amsterdam will collapse under its own success,’ says local Labour leader Marioleijn Moorman. ‘Tourism can end up eating away at the city’s unique character, which is what makes it a draw to locals and tourists.’

Action must be taken to ensure Amsterdam does not become an ‘amusement park’ at the expense of other economic activity, she said.

Party town

In particular, the way the city is marketed as a great place to party has to stop, she said. The number of events must be reduced and moved to less populated areas to reduce nuisance for locals. The Iamsterdam website states the city hosts over 300 festivals – from dance to film and food – a year.

In addition, more must be done to stop housing being turned into illegal and semi-legal accommodation for tourists and to stop the spread of waffle, ice cream and Nutella shops which focus solely on the tourist trade.

There are now more than 70 ice cream shops in the city centre, the Volkskrant says. Their number has exploded since owners were no longer required to have a catering licence.

The city centre Damstraat, for example, has lost most of its ordinary shops because of massive rent hikes and now consists largely of fast food joints.