Europe’s “party capital” is partied out

Kylie Rowe

Contributing Writer

Amsterdam has recently launched a “stay away” campaign, discouraging tourists that visit purely to abuse the lenient laws of the city. They are specifically targeting British men aged 18 to 35 looking to party.

The obscene amount of tourists has caused a “nuisance” for the residents of Amsterdam, and the overuse of drugs and alcohol has made the city rowdy year-round.

According to Fox News, visitors who search for nightlife in Amsterdam will be shown warning advertisements that feature men getting arrested as well as other

“risks and consequences” of over-partying.

Amsterdam is not the first European city to buckle down on rowdy tourism. Spain took action a few years ago to end binge drinking in two of their most popular cities, Magaluf and Ibiza. The country banned free bars, party boats and booze vending machines in areas where “drinking tourism” seemed to be the worst.

GC has multiple study abroad programs that take place in Europe. With new restrictions discouraging nightlife, as well as some European cities’ outlooks on tourists in general, students may not feel as enticed to study abroad.

Chloe Hooper, sophomore psychology major, studied abroad in Paris, France, in the summer of 2022.

“The only time I remember feeling unwelcome as a tourist was because of the language barrier,” Hooper said.

Hooper said that being a tourist in Paris felt normal for the most part and that she never noticed any discouragement like the kind that has been taking place in Amsterdam. However, in 2019, Paris banned big tourist buses from the heart of the city.

The deputy mayor at the time, Emmanuel Gregoire, told Le Parisien, a French newspaper, that they took this action to discourage the over-tourism that the capital of France had been experiencing. Many European countries have taken similar courses to cut down on the side of tourism that is not beneficial for their living communities.

Much like Paris, Amsterdam also took action in 2019 and stopped bus tours in their Red Light District. However, the inner city continues to become more “unlivable.”

Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema told Dutch News she believes this is because of the rowdy party tourism unaffected by the 2019 changes.

GC offers multiple study abroad programs in Amsterdam,