Otherside, one of Amsterdam's coffee shops
Canals, tulips, architecture, museums and art galleries, bicycles, clogs, waffles... There are many representative icons that come to mind when thinking of Amsterdam, and among them, we cannot fail to mention the coffee shops and the famous Red Light District.
The city has carried out substantial changes in the last year as far as tourism is concerned. Three neighborhoods in the city center were closed to tourist rentals, guided tours of the Red Light District were banned and the mythical letters 'I amsterdam' were removed from the city's Museum Square (although they remained in other places). .
The latest news that reaches us from the Dutch capital is the proposal to prohibit non-residents from buying cannabis in coffee shops.
Amsterdam already banned vacation rentals in the city center
In 2019, the City Council carried out a survey of 1,100 international visitors between the ages of 18 and 35 who visited the Red Light District. Some questions concerned the subject of coffee shops. The results revealed that 57% of foreigners who visit the center of Amsterdam say that going to a coffee shop is a very important reason.
Also, 34% indicated that they would visit the city less often if they could not get into the coffee shops , and 11% said they would not go at all.
“Amsterdam is an international city and we want to attract tourists, but we would like them to come for its wealth, its beauty and its cultural institutions,” said Femke Halsema, mayor of the city.
In a letter issued on January 8 and addressed to the city councilors, Halsema has proposed introduce the “resident criterion” that allows only locals to use coffee shops, which "would reduce the influx of tourists attracted by cannabis and facilitate the management of tourism in the city."
Halsema will discuss the measures with the city council at the end of January and she hopes they can be implemented next year.
Smokey's Coffee Shop