Amsterdam chases British tourists: They drink a lot, throw up and fight

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Amsterdam has warned British tourists to "stay away from the city". The Dutch capital did this through a digital campaign aimed at British men aged 18 to 35, supported by the city council.

Discouraging Britons from coming to Amsterdam is part of efforts to improve the image of the Dutch capital, writes BBC.

As part of a digital campaign called "Stay Away", footage of young men stumbling through the streets of Amsterdam was shown. Videos of detained young men being fingerprinted by the police have also been released. Also, targeted ads show the risks of excessive drug and drink consumption in Amsterdam.

The message to Brits from the Dutch capital is – a long weekend in Amsterdam can create the wrong memories. UK residents can buy return air tickets to Amsterdam for €57.

British-based travel agencies are offering 'bachelor' weekends in Amsterdam, including canal cruises with unlimited drinks, steak and strip nights and pub crawls in the Red Light District.

For years, people in Amsterdam have complained about drunken Brits urinating in public, throwing up in canals, stripping and getting into drunken fights. This is not a new phenomenon. Almost ten years ago, the then mayor of Amsterdam invited his London counterpart Boris Johnson, who described the city as "slimy", to see for himself what the British were doing there.

Critics of the Amsterdam campaign argue that such targeted ads are discriminatory and based on unfair stereotypes. In the Netherlands, coffee shops are allowed to sell marijuana if they follow certain strict rules such as the prohibition of serving alcoholic beverages or selling marijuana to minors.

"They may come for the grass, but they stay for Van Gogh," Joachim Helms, owner of the Greenhouse cafe, told the BBC. The Dutchman points out that his clientele comes from all social and economic walks of life, arguing that attempts to exclude some based on their age and gender violate the principles of freedom, tolerance and equality that Amsterdam prides itself on.

Amsterdam is one of the most visited cities in the world. Around 20 million visitors, including one million Britons, visit the city of approximately 883.000 each year. However, excessive tourism is testing the tolerance of the local population and that is why the city council reacted.

Amsterdam to ban marijuana smoking at Red Lanterns

There will be no ban on prostitution in Amsterdam, but stricter rules and controls will be introduced instead. Starting this weekend, brothels and bars will have to close early, and in May a ban on smoking marijuana on the streets and around the Red Light District will come into effect.

It is still being debated whether tourists should be banned from Amsterdam cafes. The mission of the city council is to make the city more livable.

Amsterdam residents who live in tall, narrow houses tell the BBC that it is not just young tourists who are the problem, but also the sheer number of tourists in the city.

"We feel like we're living in Disneyland or a zoo," says one resident of the Dutch capital. Deputy Mayor Sofian Mbarki said Amsterdam already takes more governance measures than other major cities in Europe. "Visitors will remain welcome, but not if they misbehave and create disorder," he added.

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