Amsterdam is considering banning tourists from its famous coffee shops
Talk about leaving things high and dry.
Amsterdam is considering banning tourists from entering its famous coffee shops, CNN reports. The stores, small shops where you can purchase recreational cannabis, are known for being favorites of locals and tourists alike.
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Tourists love them so much that the city has been combating some significant overtourism in the past few years. Within the last 15 months, Amsterdam has banned tours of its famous Red Light District, removed one of its most famous photo ops, has closed the last of its iconic floating florists and even stopped promoting tourism in the city altogether.
This move is just the latest in a string of crackdowns and follows in the footsteps of a survey Mayor Femke Halsema commissioned back in August. 1,100 tourists between the ages of 18 and 35 were questioned in the survey, and all of them were visiting Amsterdam's Red Light District.
It asked young tourists their primary reason for wanting to visit Amsterdam. Their response? To experience a cannabis cafe.
In fact, 57% of survey respondents said coffee shops are an important reason for why they visited the Dutch capital, and another 34% said they'd come less often if they're not able to visit the coffee shops. As per CNN, 11% of respondents claimed they wouldn't visit at all.
Back in 2014, The Grasshopper, one of the city's most famous spots, lost its license to sell cannabis, hash or any related products.
This move follows a series of measures across Europe designed to prevent tourists from behaving badly. Earlier this year, Mallorca and Ibiza cracked down on pub crawls, happy hour and party boats. This past summer, Rome enforced new laws aimed at tourists that also prohibited pub crawls, among other restrictions. Back in 2018, Venice considered a nightly ban on public alcohol consumption after 7 p.m. and, more recently, two tourists were fined more than $6,000 for skinny-dipping in a canal.
Related: These are the best travel credit cards for 2020
Crackdown or no crackdown, Amsterdam is a fantastic place to visit — just be aware of making these 12 common mistakes while you're there.
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- Lacks travel protections that other travel rewards cards come with
- For a limited time, earn 80,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening
- Earn 3 Points per $1 spent at Restaurants and Supermarkets
- Earn 3 Points per $1 spent at Gas Stations, Air Travel and Hotels
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- Annual Hotel Savings Benefit
- 80,000 Points are redeemable for $800 in gift cards when redeemed at thankyou.com
- No expiration and no limit to the amount of points you can earn with this card
- No Foreign Transaction Fees on purchases