The number of British visitors to the Netherlands has decreased this year, following the implementation of a campaign aimed at discouraging disruptive tourists from traveling to Amsterdam.
The number of UK arrivals in the Netherlands has declined by 22% compared to 2019, the last year of unrestricted travel before the COVID-19 pandemic. A campaign initiated in March 2023 has urged travelers interested in Amsterdam’s permissive culture, including the red-light district and cannabis cafes, to choose alternative destinations.
The online campaign activates when individuals in Britain search for specific keywords like “stag party Amsterdam,” “pub crawl Amsterdam,” and “cheap hotel Amsterdam” on search engines.
Warning videos appear during the online campaign, depicting scenes of young men stumbling in the street, undergoing handcuffing, fingerprinting, and mugshot procedures. The videos emphasize the risks and consequences of excessive drug and alcohol consumption, including fines, hospitalization, a criminal record, and permanent health damage.
Despite a decline in British visitors, Amsterdam remains a highly popular tourist destination in Europe, attracting around 20 million visitors annually. In 2019, out of these, 2.4 million were British tourists.
SOURCE: British Tourists Decline in Netherlands Following a Campaign
