Tourism | Amsterdam targets ads to British men – with the aim of reducing partying

Holland’s Amsterdam plans to start an advertising campaign, the purpose of which is to reduce the number of tourists, contrary to tradition. This is reported by The Guardian.

The city is targeting young British men whose intention is to arrive in the city to party in a disturbing fashion. The campaign offers warning videos next to certain search results, which discuss the risks and consequences of excessive alcohol and drug consumption. These consequences include fines, criminal convictions and health hazards.

The video will appear in search results if the search terms include, for example, “bachelorette party Amsterdam”, “cheap hotel Amsterdam” and “pub crawl Amsterdam”.

According to research, British and Dutch men between the ages of 18 and 35 tend to cause the most disturbances in the red light area.

“Visitors are still welcome, but not if they misbehave and cause disturbances. As a city, we say: We don’t want this, so please stay away,” Amsterdam’s deputy mayor Sofyan Mbarki said in the release.

The city’s intention is to start the campaign only in Britain, after which it will expand to the Netherlands and other countries. In addition to the online campaign, behavior is reminded on screens and posters in hotel lobbies, among other things.

Amsterdam has also made other changes with which it tries to tame bad behavior. These include, for example, more limited opening hours for brothels and bars and restricting the smoking of cannabis in certain areas.

CEO of Conscious Hotels Marco Lemmers on the other hand, tells The Guardin that an advertising campaign focusing on positive aspects would be preferable.

“You could tell people that they’re going to get into trouble for a certain kind of behavior, using a little humor, but not all wedding guests who come here should be treated like criminals!”

“Has Amsterdam thought at all about what kind of unintended harm there is? [kampanja] cause the whole of Holland?”