While Amsterdam authorities have banned tours around the city’s iconic Red Light District, a new proposal brought before councillors is calling for a new adult entertainment district to be built outside the city.
According to LADbible, the initiative is expected to help improve the situation in the city by "taking away the lure of sex and drugs, and reducing crime," with Councillor Dennis Boutkan of the PvdA labour party arguing that it represents a "reset of the visitor economy."
The person at the centre of the reform is Femke Halsema, mayor of Amsterdam, who presented three sets of proposals aimed at moving sex tourism out of the city, while reducing crime and drug consumption, the media outlet adds.
"These measures aim to result in a better mixture of functions, better control, a valuable visitor economy, and strengthening cultural diversity and the local identity, more diverse range of housing and more residents in the inner city, more accessible public space and more greenery."
Earlier this month, Halsema also introduced proposals allowing only Dutch residents to enter Amsterdam’s 166 “marijuana-selling coffee shops,” as government research revealed that 58 percent of foreign tourists who visit the city mostly do so to get stoned, the Guardian notes.
"Amsterdam is an international city and we wish to attract tourists – but for its richness, its beauty, and its cultural institutions," the mayor remarked.