Much-loved European destination reveals plans to ban cruise ships from city centre
A MUCH loved European holiday destination has revealed plans to stop cruise ships from sailing into the city centre.
The tourist hotspot is expected to impose a blanket ban on the boats entering the area within the decade.
Amsterdam confirmed yesterday that it will be moving the passenger terminal away from the city centre by 2035.
It will also half the number of vessels allowed to dock at the terminal from 2026.
Yesterday a meeting was held where the decision was made by the City of Amsterdam’s Executive Board.
It is a measure to combat overtourism and improve the quality of life for residents, according to the report in the NL Times.
The report follows the full City Council adopting a motion from the socially progressive D66 party last year, calling for cruise ships to be banned from the centre and the cruise terminal to be relocated.
In April, the Board also announced its intention to also halve the number of river cruises in the city.
The Board is comprised of the mayor, and elected aldermen from the local coalition parties.
The Cruise Line International Association has said a “ban” was a misinterpretation of the long-term future of the port.
CLIA said in a statement: “Amsterdam is and will remain a popular cruise destination, and cruise tourism will continue delivering important economic benefits to the city – to the tune of around 105 million Euros annually.
“That economic contribution is particularly significant when you consider that of the more than 21 million visitors to Amsterdam each year, only around 1 per cent arrive by cruise ship.”
Last year, Ilana Rooderkerk, the leader of D66 said “polluting cruise [ships] is not in line with Amsterdam’s sustainable ambitions”.
She also claimed that cruise ships run against the city’s “task of combating mass tourism”.
According to a BBC news report, Rooderkerk also compared cruise tourists to a type of “plague of locusts” descending all at once on the city.
At the moment 190 cruises are allowed to dock annually at the PTA near Amsterdam Central Station.
This number will be limited to a maximum of 100 18 months from now.
Those ships that do arrive in the city centre will also be required to use shore power, starting in 2027, to lower on diesel emissions and reduce noise.
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