Amsterdam to Relocate Red Light District in a Bid to Discourage Party Tourists
The Municipality of Amsterdam is planning to relocate the famous Red Light district, in a bid of the same to push away party tourists from the city’s centre.
The city’s Mayor, Femke Halsema, has sent a letter to Amsterdam City Council Members alongside a detailed proposal to establish a multi-story complex called an “Erotic Centre” outside the city centre, and relocate there 100 brothels from the Red Light District.
The window brothels would only be visible from the inside of the building, and not from outside, as they are currently exposed to passersby, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
In the Amsterdam Accord 2022-2026, the coalition has agreed to reduce the number of windows in the Red Light District by relocating a portion to an erotic center, offering sex workers more control over their work. The initial step is to select a potential location for the Erotic Center (EC).
Presenting his proposal, Mayor Halsema has pointed out that the Wallen neighbourhood, which consists of hundreds of window brothels, currently attracts tourists that are attracted to sex theaters, window brothels, tourist shops and budget hotels, asserting that this makes the area challenging to manage.
According to this proposal, the “Erotic Centre” would be located in Europaboulevard, only 500 meters away from the European Medicines Agency.
The location has been selected based on evaluations that Europaboulevard is a socially resilient neighborhood, positioned outside Ring A10, and easily accessible by both public transport and car.
In recent years, Amsterdam has been struggling to keep away several types of tourists, in particular noisy ones, those who come to the city solely for smoking weed, and partying in the Red Light District.
A year ago, the city launched an anti-tourist campaign called “Stay Away”, targeting cannabis, drug tourists and sex tourists as well as bachelor parties.
Later, in February 2023, Amsterdam introduced new laws to limit cannabis use only to the Red-Light District and designated coffee shops. It also announced a bar and restaurant closure at 2 am, while at the same time obliging Red Light District to close at 2 am and brothels to shut their activity at 3 am.
Amsterdam is one of the most famous European capitals. According to Statista, in 2022, hotels in the city recorded around five million international arrivals and 1.6 million domestic arrivals. Top international visitors were Germans, British, and Americans.
