Locals in Amsterdam don’t want the ‘rowdy tourists’ to return back. The COVID-19 pandemic saw the Dutch capital left alone by tourists all around the world and many city-dwellers believe that the break from the noise, drugs and crowds has done well to their surroundings. 

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Amsterdam is popularly known as ‘the city of sin’. Tourists visit the city to mainly enjoy the lenient drug norms, red light areas and the glamourous nightlife. In 2019, about 20 million international tourists visited Amsterdam, CNN reports. Approximately 70% of them were from neighboring countries of Germany, and Belgium and the UK. However, with the borders closed last year, the city was less crowded. 

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Amsterdam is also known as ‘the city of canals’ or ‘the Venice of the north’ and some locals want to stay by that image. 

Delighted by the calm atmosphere of their newly deserted historic city center and picturesque waterways, residents reclaimed sections of the city they’d avoided for years. Now they’re not sure they want to give them back.

“Amsterdam needs tourists, without them our wonderful museums and restaurants wouldn’t survive. But it was a bonus during the pandemic when they couldn’t come. No more large groups thronging the canal area, at worst throwing up from drink and drugs. We got our city back and liked it that way,” a 30-year resident of Amsterdam tells CNN. 

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Now that a major chunk of the Dutch population is vaccinated, the government has taken a turn on its tourism campaign. According to CNN, the authorities are encouraging travel to the city but have decided to be tough on the ‘rowdies’. People who intend on drinking and taking drugs have been explicitly told to stay away.

While the city council has spent €100,000 on a campaign asking people to visit the city’s cultural heritage, it has warned disrespectful ‘nuisance tourists’ saying that they are not welcome, CNN adds.