Amsterdam gears up to bring balance to tourism

AMSTERDAM - The Dutch city unveiled far-reaching plans on Wednesday to rein in tourism, reflecting the dissatisfaction of many residents who feel its historic center has been overrun.

The leading Green-Left and other parties, negotiating a new municipal government after March elections, vowed to return "Balance to the City", in a document of that name seen by the media.

"The positive sides of tourism such as employment and city revenues are being more and more overshadowed by the negative consequences"-including trash and noise pollution, the document said.

Changes the document outlines include curtailing "amusement transportation" such as multi-person "beer bikes"; cracking down on alcohol use in boats on the canals; further restricting Airbnb and other home rentals; and a large tax hike.

The plans also include creating an inventory of all commercial beds in the city to try to cap various sectors such as those on cruise ships and in hotels.

"I'm very happy that the city is now finally taking action, because residents have been asking for it for a very long time," said Bert Nap of neighborhood organization d'Oude Binnenstad, in the historic center.

"What I'm worried about is that this package of measures is so drastic that there will be a lot of lawsuits and political resistance, which will cost a lot of time."

He said the city was suffering from too many visitors in general, which had the effect of changing the character of the center into one big tourist attraction. He also said some unruly, drunken tourists were making the city center an unattractive place for local residents.