While cannabis coffee shops aren’t the only thing that brings tourists to Amsterdam, they are definitely a major attraction. However, that soon may change.

The city of Amsterdam is trying to regulate ‘over-tourism.’ The initiative started by banning guided tours of the famous red-light district, limiting the number of Airbnbs in the city, and now possibly banning tourists from the cannabis coffee shops in 2022.

How will this ban go over with tourists looking to explore Amsterdam in the future?

A survey conducted in 2019 by CNN asked over 1,000 international visitors between the ages of 18 – 35, how this ban might affect them. 57% of visitors said coffee shops were an important attraction in a visit to Amsterdam. 11% of visitors said they wouldn’t travel to Amsterdam at all if this ban were to go into effect. Leaving many to wonder if this would hurt the tourism rate.

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“Amsterdam is an international city, and we wish to attract tourists, but for its richness, beauty and cultural institutions,” Femke Halsema, the city’s mayor said in a statement.

With the ban of cannabis coffee shops and other activities around the red-light district, city leaders hope the city will be known as for other attractions like the famous Van Gogh Museum, the elaborate canal system and the city’s stunning architecture.

The ban, which wouldn’t go into effect until 2022, is also being looked at as a way to combat organized crime in the city.

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