Cruise Ships Can’t Park Here Anymore, Decides This Big City

Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, has decided to implement a ban on cruise ships, preventing them from docking in the city’s main terminal in an effort to curb pollution and over-tourism.

“The motivation of the proposal from the City Council was to reduce the number of tourists, but also for environmental reasons,” says Hester van Buren, Amsterdam’s deputy mayor, in a statement according to The New York Times.

According to the Cruise Lines International Association, every year, cruise ships account for 1% of visitors and contribute some $113 million to the city’s economy. Still, a recent study shows that since each vessel produces the same amount of nitrogen oxide as 30,000 trucks or 370,000 cars, and consequently, the industry doesn’t align with the Dutch capital’s sustainability goals. The terminal has welcomed some 2,100 ships – and more than 3.8 million tourists – since it opened in 2000. The ban aims not only at curbing pollution in the capital but at decreasing the number of visitors on its territory, going as far as launching a “stay away” advertising campaign targeting poorly behaved tourists.