Amsterdam
Amsterdam has long been trying to clean up a reputation for rowdy stag parties, drugs and sex that has been partly blamed on an influx of around 20 million visitors a year.
In 2023 it launched an online campaign aimed at discouraging young British men from travelling to Amsterdam to get high or very drunk, telling them in typically blunt Dutch fashion to “stay away” or risk arrest.
Amsterdam also announced last week a ban on new hotels and that it would halve the number of river cruise ships in the city within five years.
It also decided last year to ban smoking cannabis on the streets of the red-light district.
Hallstatt and Salzburg in Austria
The tiny village of Hallstatt, a hamlet just 750 people strong not far from Salzburg and bearing a striking resemblance to the fictional kingdom of Arendelle from Disney’s Frozen – last year caused furore when its residents erected a fence at its famous vista to deter selfie-seekers. After a social media backlash, the village – which is also a UNESCO heritage site – removed the fence, but signs remind visitors to enjoy the site quietly.
Residents were also protesting in favour of tourism curbs in the village, which gets as many as 10,000 visitors a day in high season. They want to limit the numbers and ban tour buses in the town after 5:00 p.m.
Not far from Hallstatt, the city made famous by classical music, Hollywood classics and Christmas songs, Salzburg, has also complained about massive tourism and the danger of being “overrun by mass tourists and day trippers”.
The city’s tourism boss Christine Schönhuber said: “We only want those who stay overnight”. The western Austrian city is yet to take any concrete measures, but it has floated ideas such as closing some streets to cars and putting restrictions on souvenir shops. The city is also considering closing the bus terminal at the city’s Mirabellplatz to day tripping companies – allowing only those transporting overnight guests.
Iseltwald, Switzerland
The quaint Swiss village of Iseltwald has been forced to limit the number of tourists after fans of a South Korean Netflix hit show flocked to the region in droves sparking a backlash from locals.
Iseltwald is often referred to as the pearl of Lake Brienz, and rightfully so. The fishing village is located on the left bank of the river and is one of the smallest communities in the canton of Bern – and locals would like to keep it that way.
A picture taken on June 2, 2023 shows the village of Iseltwald at the shore of Lake Brienz, in the Swiss Alps. Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP
Dubrovnik
Croatia’s medieval walled city of Dubrovnik is one of Europe’s most overcrowded cities, with the flow of tourists sometimes making it impossible to walk inside the historic Old Town.
The jewel of the Adriatic has seen a huge surge in visitor numbers since scenes from the series “Game of Thrones” were filmed on its ramparts in 2011.
In 2023, the town of 41,000 people received 1.2 million tourists, below 2019’s record of 1.4 million.
In 2019 local authorities limited the number of cruise ship arrivals to two per day, with no more than 4,000 passengers each at a time.
They also launched an app that uses machine learning and weather forecasts to predict when the Old Town, a UNESCO world heritage site, will be busiest.
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Locals
