After a year without rowdy tourists, European cities want to keep it that way

Amsterdam, Prague and Barcelona see tourism silver lining in Covid lockdowns

Only a trickle of tourists have returned to Amsterdam this year. While city officials say they want to jettison the negative effects of tourism overload, business owners are leery of losing revenue. Photographer: Peter Boer/Bloomberg

On a warm Friday night in July, the sun seemed to linger behind Amsterdam’s low, 16th-century skyline. In the red light district, the crush of tourists that was common before the pandemic had long since vanished, making it easy for a delivery worker to cycle past a handful of gawkers around the old town’s notorious storefronts.

While six German men in matching t-shirts ignored signs warning of a €95 fine as they swilled beers on a nearby footbridge, they were the exception. Mostly, only small groups of sedate strollers were about on this midsummer evening.