The Amsterdam City Council has approved a proposal with a considerable majority to ban cruise ships in an effort to reduce pollution and the number of tourists entering the city.
Amsterdam’s deputy mayor, Hester Van Buren, said, “The motivation of the proposal from the City Council was to reduce the number of tourists, but also for environmental reasons.”
The decision of the city council is just the first step as the proposal will have to go through other levels before final approval. While there is no immediate ban on ships or closure of the terminal, if the proposal is final approved, the Amsterdam Cruise Port will be closed. Currently, ships are scheduled to call at the port through 2025.
The Amsterdam Cruise Terminal is next to the Amsterdam Central Station within walking distance of the popular historic old city. This ban would be very inconvenient for cruise ship passengers wishing to visit the old city. The nearest port is 24 miles away and guests would have to use buses or public transportation to reach the city center. It is also possible that the existing port facility could be moved.
Amsterdam is one of the largest cruise ports in Europe and hosts about 700,000 cruise passengers every year. The port is currently scheduled for a total of 73 cruise ship visits through the end of this year including Holland America Line’s ms Rotterdam and Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Prima.
The city council, in an attempt to quiet the city and appease its 900,000 residents, has recently banned smoking cannabis in public, mandated earlier closing hours of cafes, restaurants and prostitution business, banned the sale of alcohol in stores after 4 p.m. and launched a “Stay Away” campaign. The cruise ship ban is just the latest measure to limit the number of tourists.
Amsterdam is not the first European city to ban cruise ships. If they are able to get this proposal in place, Amsterdam will be following in the footsteps of Venice, while Barcelona, Santorini, and Dubrovnik will be or already are limiting cruise ship arrivals.