Managing Overtourism in Amsterdam from 1990 until 2025

This thesis examines Amsterdam’s evolving approach to managing tourism in response to the growing number of visitors from 1990 to 2025, resulting in overtourism. It explores why and how the municipality had to shift from tourism promotion to tourism regulation, driven by pressures on infrastructure, housing, and quality of life. The first part of the study analyses Amsterdam’s development into a global tourist destination, highlighting policies that enhanced its international image, including liberal regulations, cultural branding, and increased investment in infrastructure. The second part investigates the city’s transition to sustainable tourism management, focusing on recent interventions like restricting short-term rentals, limiting cruise traffic, and introducing behavioural campaigns such as “Stay Away” and “How to Amsterdam.” The thesis contextualizes this shift in strategies within debates on overcrowding, sustainability, and the “right to the city” by drawing on policy and...Show moreThis thesis examines Amsterdam’s evolving approach to managing tourism in response to the growing number of visitors from 1990 to 2025, resulting in overtourism. It explores why and how the municipality had to shift from tourism promotion to tourism regulation, driven by pressures on infrastructure, housing, and quality of life. The first part of the study analyses Amsterdam’s development into a global tourist destination, highlighting policies that enhanced its international image, including liberal regulations, cultural branding, and increased investment in infrastructure. The second part investigates the city’s transition to sustainable tourism management, focusing on recent interventions like restricting short-term rentals, limiting cruise traffic, and introducing behavioural campaigns such as “Stay Away” and “How to Amsterdam.” The thesis contextualizes this shift in strategies within debates on overcrowding, sustainability, and the “right to the city” by drawing on policy and archival documents, and scholarly literature. Amsterdam’s policies increasingly aim to balance economic benefits with social and environmental responsibilities. The thesis concludes that the city’s tourism management strategies have undergone a significant transformation, from maximizing growth and profit to focusing on sustainability and residents’ rights, to ensure that tourism supports urban liveability rather than undermines it.Show less

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Managing Overtourism in Amsterdam from 1990 until 2025