Amsterdam residents take legal action against authorities over mass tourism

Amsterdam campaigners have filed a lawsuit against the city’s local authorities in an attempt to curb mass tourism with stricter rules.

Pressure group Amsterdam Heeft een Keuze (Amsterdam Has A Choice) filed the complaint on Monday after raising €50,000 (£43,700) from supporters, local reports said.

The group has accused the City of Amsterdam of not complying with a 2021 bylaw, which capped tourist overnight stays at 20 million per year. Rules state that if the number of visitors reaches 18 million, the municipal executive is obliged to take action to prevent the city from reaching the cap.

Amsterdam Has A Choice was instrumental in the implementation of this bylaw, with local authorities approving it after the group’s campaigning efforts.

However, local reports said official data showed the number of overnight stays in Amsterdam reached 22.9 million in 2024 – an overstep of the policy and a 3 per cent increase on the previous year.

Amsterdam Has A Choice predicts that this number will climb to 25 million next year.

The campaigners are demanding that local authorities remove the “vague terms” of the agreement and explicitly state that 20 million overnight stays is the maximum.

The campaign has support from 30,000 Amsterdam residents who have signed a petition for a policy against mass tourism.

The group said, “Amsterdammers are fed up.”

“Local shops are giving way to souvenir shops and Nutella stores. Houses and public buildings are being converted into hotels, and you can barely walk on the sidewalks because of the long lines at TikTok hotspots,” a statement on Amsterdam Has A Choice’s website reads.

The group emphasises that it is not against visitors in general, but does oppose mass tourism, and wants to see the needs of residents better considered.

“When shops for residents disappear from entire parts of the city and one in five Amsterdammers avoid the most beautiful city centre in the world, something is seriously wrong,” they add.

The City of Amsterdam has already introduced some measures to try to curb the impact of tourism.

Alongside the overnight stay bylaw, Amsterdam authorities have pledged to curtail stag and hen parties, restrict river cruises, convert hotels into homes or offices and introduce a ban on smoking cannabis on the street in parts of the city centre.

Amsterdam also has a tourist tax in place, with visitors staying overnight charged 12.5 per cent of the room bill and cruise day trippers paying €14.50 (£12.70).

The Independent has contacted the City of Amsterdam for comment.

Read more: You can now book a stay at Amanda Holden and Alan Carr’s renovated Spanish villa