Tourism industry braced for change beyond lockdown

The United Nations' World Tourism Organisation estimates a 60 to 80 per cent drop in global tourism this year, due to the coronavirus pandemic. It's a hard blow to the Netherlands, which welcomed 20 million foreign last year, and especially to vibrant Amsterdam.

Amsterdam: Like many destinations once overrun by tourists, Amsterdam has been emptied by restrictions in place, to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Normally, the city's streets would be swamped by tourists, leading to a rising chorus of complaints from residents.

But Amsterdam's picturesque and cobbled lanes are quiet, with no holidaymakers to be seen.

Last year the Netherlands welcomed more than 20 million foreign visitors according to CBS, the national statistics bureau.

But could the current disruption open doors to a new model of tourism in a post-coronavirus era?

Since January, the government banned guided tours of the Red Light District in Amsterdam's medieval centre, to prevent uncontrolled tourist crowds, not because of the coronavirus lockdown measures.

In the last few months, city officials have been considering alternative locations for the brothels, sex shops and museums.

Amsterdam&partners is creating a new marketing strategy aiming to attract tourists to stay or spend more time in other neighbourhoods and small towns near Amsterdam.

They hope that move will reduce the number of visitors to the city centre.

In the past year, the nuisance of mass-tourism forced officials to introduce fines and strict police controls.

From noise to littering fines, boards and flags list several finable offences to tourists and residents.

Amsterdam announced in April the plans to ban people from renting out homes to visitors in three historic downtown neighbourhoods.

The move, which is set to come into force July 1, is the latest attempt to reign in people renting their homes out on platforms like Airbnb amid complaints from residents that tourists are spoiling their quality of life.

The ban goes hand-in-hand with a system coming into force in Amsterdam on July 1 that will mean anybody renting out their home in the city will have to have a permit.

Amsterdam City Hall will not be issuing permits for the three neighbourhoods covered by the ban.

Amsterdam, in recent years, has tightened rules for people renting out their homes, including limiting owners to a maximum of 30 nights a year and a maximum of four guests on any given night.

Researchers from the SEO Amsterdam Economics estimated the total revenue for the Amsterdam economy from tourism in 2017 at 2.7bn euros, including wages and profits for local workers and businesses.

The sector employs 11% of Amsterdam's working population.

Udo expects tourism will hopefully begin to pick up again once the crisis is over.

(With inputs from AP)