Amsterdam’s Latest Tourism Ads Ask Rowdy British Visitors To ‘Stay Away’

British tourists planning a bachelor or bachelorette vacation in Amsterdam may need to reconsider their plans, as the Netherlands’ capital recently launched a new initiative to combat nuisance tourism from visitors that head to the city to “go wild.”

Calling the move a “discouragement campaign,” city officials said the effort was one of a wide array of measures the popular tourist spot was implementing. This one, in particular, was aimed at males from Great Britain aged 18 to 35 years old.

Video advertisements will pop up when visitors search keywords such as “stag party Amsterdam,” “cheap hotel Amsterdam,” or “pub crawl Amsterdam,” displaying the possible risks and consequences should they choose to partake in excessive drug and alcohol abuse.

Dubbed “anti-social behaviors,” these acts of public nuisance will result in visitors being fined, arrested by the police, getting a criminal record, and even being hospitalized. The City Council hopes these unwanted outcomes will help discourage rowdy tourists from coming over.

One of the videos depicts a drunk man being hauled away by police, with the accompanying text reading: “Coming to Amster for a messy night + getting trashed = €140 fine + criminal record = fewer prospects. So coming to Amsterdam for a messy night? Stay away.”

Another portrays an unconscious partygoer being taken to the hospital in an ambulance, calling on those who plan to head to the city to let loose on drugs to change their minds, as taking “drugs + lose control = hospital trip + permanent health damage = worried family.”

In addition, the city is planning to start another campaign titled How to Amsterdam for tourists who have already arrived, informing them through online and offline portals as to how to act to not cause disruption.

Warning signs will be plastered in hotel lobbies and on social media platforms, instructing visitors not to urinate in public, become drunk and disorderly, purchase drugs from street dealers, or cause noise pollution.

“Visitors will remain welcome, but not if they misbehave and cause nuisance. In that case, we as a city will say: rather not, stay away. Amsterdam is already taking lots of measures against excessive tourism and nuisance,” summed up Deputy Mayor Sofyan Mbarki.

[via CNN and Euro News, cover image via Dennis Van De Water | Dreamstime.com]