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The city authorities argue that tours bringing tourists to visit the red-light district are 'disrespectful' towards sex workers.
Amsterdam to ban tourist tours to the red-light district
“In this day and age, it's unacceptable to view sex workers as a tourist attraction,” Guardian quoted city council member Udo Kock as saying on March 21.
In a survey by the city council, 80% of sex workers said that tourists staring at them was the reason their business was affected. The city council in 2018 proposed relocating the red-light district to another location.
Due to increasingly cheap airfares and services such as online hotel booking, the city of Amsterdam, with a population of around 850,000, had to welcome 19 million tourists in 2018. Mayor Femke Halsema predicts that the number of tourists will rise to 29 million by 2025. City residents say the city center is so crowded that it's unbearable to live in.
The ban, which took effect on January 1, 2020, will not allow tourists of Amsterdam tour groups to visit the red-light district. The maximum number of participants in organized tours to other areas in the city center has also been reduced from 20 to 15. Tour guides must have a permit from the city council and adhere to strict conduct rules.
Amsterdam has also proposed initiatives to limit the number of shops selling tourist services, tighten regulations on Airbnb rentals, and increase taxes on tourists.
According to An Hong/Vnexpress
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Reference: Travel guide Mytour
MytourApril 4, 2019
