Amsterdam residents stage protests against ‘unliveable’ conditions due to overtourism as new hotels pop up
Amsterdam is the latest European city to stage protests against overtourism following a campaign against its “unliveable” conditions on Saturday (21 December). The demonstration by locals on the Leidseplein symbolically took place outside the controversial new build, the Diamond hotel.
Once the home of “Heineken Hoek”, an iconic corner landmark, the Diamond’s contemporary facade has not been a hit with many residents.
Dingeman Coumou, the organiser of the “Het is Genoeg”, or “that’s enough”, campaign called the Diamond “another one of those horrible hotels, which attract even more tourists and look awful,” reported The Times.
This year Amsterdam proposed restrictions to the way tourists enter and stay in the city with the aim to limit overnight stays to just 20 million tourists annually.
Yet tourist numbers to the canal city’s tulip gardens and famed Red Light District have shown no signs of reducing. Amsterdam received around 22 million overnight stays in 2023 – two million over the proposed limit.
Mr Coumou said that the tourism “flooding our city” has now become disruptive to the lives of locals in Amsterdam.