A careful balance needs to be struck to make sure the volume and type of tourists in Amsterdam do not become a problem for its residents, according to the chairman of Amsterdam Centrum’s borough council.

Boudewijn Oranje says in an interview with Trouw that things are currently fine but ‘the number of visitors continues to grow and we have to keep an eye on the balance.’

Research last year showed many city centre residents are unhappy about the growth in tourist numbers. Some 85,000 people live in central Amsterdam but on a daily basis, the population swells to around 200,000 people.

Stag nights

‘If people like you and I visit the city, no-one has a problem,’ Oranje told Trouw. ‘But there are a lot of tourists who view Amsterdam as a sort of Disneyland experience. Or take the stag and hen parties which move around with enormous penis hats on. That does create problems.’

Oranje admits it will be difficult to place limits on what tourists can do but said the new city centre committee will be approaching cafes and bars to try to halt the number of pub crawls. Moves are also being made to ban the so-called ‘beer bikes’.

Coaches and city sightseeing tours by bus may also be banned from the city centre.

Venice, says Oranje, is an example of what Amsterdam should not become. ‘It is a monoculture,’ he said. ‘Everything revolves around tourists and fewer and fewer people live there.’