Redefining Amsterdam As A Tourist Destination
Redefining Amsterdam As A Tourist Destination
Redefining Amsterdam As A Tourist Destination
55-69, 1998
© 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd
~ Pergamon All rights reserved. Printed in Great Britain
0160-7383/98 $19.00+0.00
REDEFINING A M S T E R D A M AS A
TOURIST DESTINATION
Heidi Dahles
Tilburg University, The Netherlands
Abstract:Tourist representations of the city of Amsterdam are capitalizing on the city's glorious
past, the reputation of tolerance and liberalism, the red-light district, and the gay scene. Recent
efforts in city marketing undertaken by formerly contesting actors in the tourism industry have
abandoned the heterogeneous image. Rather, a polished image of the city has emerged as the
national landmark of the Netherlands. This strategic choice has far-reaching consequences for
cultural tourism in Amsterdam. While city marketing has become more targeted and demand-
oriented, cultural tourism is still product-based. However, if demand-oriented marketing is
taken seriously, cultural tourism has to be approached as a process enabling tourists to experi-
ence local life. This strategy would establish clear markers of a distinct urban identity. The
future of Amsterdam as a center of global tourism is depending on the redefinition of its identity
in terms of local culture. Keywords: cultural tourism, city marketing, global tourism market,
local culture. © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
R6sum6:La red6finition d'Amsterdam comme destination touristique. Les repr6sentations
touristiques de la ville d'Amsterdam exploitent son histoire et sa r6putation de la tolfrance et
du lib6ralisme. Les stratfgies actuelles de marketing de ville ont renonc6 ~t l'image h6t~rog~ne
en faveur d'une repr6sentation brillante comme marquage national des Pays-Bas. Pendant que
le marketing de ville a 6t6 plus orient6 ~ la cote de la demande, le tourisme culturel est encore
fond6 au produit. Ce document pose que la future d'Amsterdam comme destination touristique
d6pend d'une red6finition de son image comme un proc~s permettant aux touristes de vivre la vie
locale. Cette strat6gie fondrait les marquages clairs d'une identit6 locale. Mots-cl6s: tourisme
culturel, marketing de ville, identit6 locale. © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
INTRODUCTION
The image of Amsterdam as a tourism destination is based on two
major themes. The first is the image of the city as being dominated
by the urban town design of the early modern period. Visitors, both
from the Netherlands and from abroad, have clear expectations of
Vermeer townscapes composed of tightly packed canalside buildings.
As a destination, Amsterdam is characterized by a physically compact
and thematically cohesive inner city. The tourism resources within
this area depend upon an urban ensemble from the 17th and 18th
centuries, and serve a show-case function, which is supported by enter-
tainment facilities of a national and international reputation (Ash-
worth and Tunbridge 1990:181-183). The second is the current
Heidi Dahles is cultural anthropologist with fieldwork experience in rural Austria, the
Netherlands, and Indonesia. She received her Ph.D. from Nijmegen University (The Nether-
lands) in 1990. At present she is Assistant Professor in the Department of Leisure Studies at
Tilburg University (PO Box 90153, 5000 LE Tilburg, the Netherlands. Email h.dahles@kub.nl).
She is involved in comparative research on heritage tourism, local identity and national policies
in the Netherlands and Indonesia.
55
56 AMSTERDAM AS A DESTINATION
popular image of Amsterdam which was formed in the late 60s and is
based upon a youth culture of sexual liberalism and narcotic indul-
gence. More recently this image has been strongly linked to a "dirt
and disorder reputation". Amsterdam has been presented as the city
of vandalism, insecurity, and public disorder by the international
media.
The image of "history, heretics and whores" is not detrimental to
tourism--as Ashworth and Tunbridge (1990:183) suggest. On the
contrary, this image appears to be one of the major attractions of the
city of which the tourism industry seems to be aware. Almost all city
guides to Amsterdam mention the interweaving of different strands
of life which compose the city's attractiveness: the reminders of the
wealthy Golden Age trading city, the sleazy port, the remnants of a
proud maritime nation and affluent colonial empire, the reputation
for tolerance and liberalism, the rich bourgeois culture, the radical
hippie mecca of the 60s, and the red-light district. Some guidebooks
(for example, the Rough Guide) even mention the drug dealing and
the gay scene. References to national and colonial history go hand in
hand with local images of the past, tales of the vicissitudes of ordinary
people, and scenes of everyday life.
Yet, this pastiche seems to have lost its attractiveness in an expand-
ing tourism market. In the last few years the position of Amsterdam
as a destination has declined in comparison to other European cities.
In the top ten of the most popular cities in Europe of 1991 (popularity
being measured by the number of nights tourists spent in the city),
Amsterdam has dropped from fourth to eighth position, outpaced by
Dublin, Vienna, Budapest, and Edinburgh and threatened by Madrid,
Brussels, and Berlin (M&CA 1994:4). The city has never regained its
former position and is struggling to stay in the lower echelons of the
top ten (Toerisme en Amsterdam 1996:5:7). Pessimists even
predicted that the city would disappear from the top ten altogether,
which, from a competitive point of view, would be like passing into
oblivion.
It certainly is a striking phenomenon that a city which only some
years ago was competing with London and Paris to become the most
popular destination in Europe, is fighting for survival in a global
tourism market; all the more since Amsterdam seems to offer a
rather attractive tourism product. What is even more striking is the
repercussion the city's loss caused among relevant actors in the local
and national tourism sector. As Ashworth and Voogd (1990:5) have
argued, it is not the accuracy of the quantitative scores which is so
important but the fact that such rankings are produced at all, the
existence of this sort of competition and the importance attached to
it by industries and governments. Although Amsterdam regained one
position in the top ten of 1993, and has held seventh position ever
since (Toerisme en Amsterdam 1993:12:1-3), this modest success has
not removed the fear that the city might end up sharing the status of
Dutch provincial towns; a fear that is shared by the local and national
tourism industry and the public sector.
This article is not concerned with an investigation of what caused
the city's drop in the top ten. Besides a number ofad hoc explanations
HEIDI DAHLES 57
TOURISM IN AMSTERDAM
The number of registered residential tourists in Amsterdam since
1989 shows considerable fluctuation. In 1990 (the best year so far) 1.9
million tourists spent at least one night in accommodation in the city;
compared to the previous year, this was a growth of 12%. In 1991 this
number dropped to 1.75 million; the figure recovered slightly in 1992
(1.8 million), only to tumble again in 1993. In that year the number
of residential visitors was 1.65 million; and in 1994 it recovered and
reached 1.85 million. This growth stimulated the prognosis that in
1995 the number of visitors would reach the 1990 level (ATO 1994:17).
At the end of 1995, given disappointing results in the first six months
of the year, this prognosis turned out to be too optimistic; tourism
increased by 3% only. In 1996, however, the growth was 6% (Toerisme
en Amsterdam 1996:5-11).
The top ten listing reflects the popularity of European cities in
global tourism, as the list is established on the basis of the arrival and,
significantly, the length of stay of tourists from all over the world.
About 10% of the residential tourists are domestic tourists (ATO
1993:18). Excursionists visiting the city on a daytrip are not included
in the top ten rankings. There are no reliable statistics on excur-
sionists, as this category is not registered. However, in 1991 it was
estimated that about 11.5 million foreign and domestic visitors--
mostly from the Netherlands and neighboring countries such as the
United Kingdom, Germany, and Belgium--spent a day in the Dutch
capital (ATO 1992:6). Recent market research has shown that these
countries are generating a steady flux of residential tourists; and it
might be expected that this applies to excursionists as well (M&CA
1994:5-6).
These millions of tourists generate income. The average excur-
sionist spends about $66 per day, the average residential tourist about
58 AMSTERDAM AS A DESTINATION
Tourism Policies
Amsterdam's decline in popularity has stirred up a wave of reac-
tions. All parties involved are talking about the city's identity crisis.
The earlier mentioned research on its position in a global tourism
market laid bare the major reasons for this crisis. The research was
conducted under the authority of the Amsterdam Tourist Office--
which is the mouthpiece of the city's tourism industry--and the
municipal and national government. The analysis shows that the
strength of the city's tourism product is its cultural heritage, but that
representation and marketing of that heritage is its major weakness
(KPMG 1993). The results of this research generated a debate among
HEIDI DAHLES 59
the urban planners being inspired by the piazza del Duomo in Pisa.
Some of the anticipated projects, however, have already failed or are
experiencing serious financial problems. The fact that in spite of all
the problems, the local government clings to projects of this scale
shows the importance of urban competitiveness in a global market
(Burgers 1990).
Amsterdam tried to join in with other European cities which are
recognized as major cultural centers. These cities, including London,
Paris, Rome, and Berlin, have had to invest heavily in cultural infra-
structure to maintain their lead in the European league table (Bian-
chini and Fischer 1988). Compared to these monumental capitals,
A m s t e r d a m - - a s the archetypal Calvinist city--suffers from a lack of
cultural capital in the form of major monuments. The assets and
strategies of city marketing as exerted by the Amsterdam city council
have to be understood not only against the background ofa globalizing
market, but also in the light of this national competition. Although
Amsterdam is still perceived as the symbol of national culture, it must
compete in the cultural and economic arena with other big cities in
the Randstad (Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht), and more recently
with Maastricht in the south. The local government of Rotterdam is
marketing its city as the "Manhattan on the Maas" (Ashworth and
Voogd 1990:145), whereas Utrecht has chosen the slogan "Citt~ del
Duomo" ("city of the cathedral") (Mommaas 1992:40).
Despite the willingness to compete nationally and internationally,
it is by no means certain that the city will prosper as a center of
national and international cultural tourism in the future as it has in
the past. There will be more Amsterdam-like cities in the future and
the competition will intensify, not only among the major cities in
Europe but also among the emerging regional centers that prosper
within the national economy (O'Loughlin 1993:25). Looking at
Amsterdam from this perspective, it may be clear that what the city
needs is a distinctive and specialized tourism product. As the analysis
of tourism policy has shown, there is no clear concept to accomplish
this. Efforts to turn tourism into an economic success result in rather
diverging strategies of developing "culture" as a tourism attraction.
As has been discussed above, the city council is creating aestheticized
consumption spaces to add allure to Amsterdam. As in many other
cities such a development policy almost always results in buildings
like the IJ-oeverproject, convention and science centers, stadiums, and
festival market places (Law 1993:170). The problem with this "serial
reproduction" (Harvey 1989) is that Amsterdam might become like
any other city. As it is very unlikely that visitors will want to travel to
clone cities, one has to question whether the urban development
strategies will contribute to a distinctive tourist product.
sexual markets, but would put off others. However, that does not
necessarily imply that "everyday life" is an unsuitable marketing
asset. Amsterdam policymakers seem to be unaware of local culture
being more than the drug scene, the red-light district, and the dirt
and disorder. They gear their policies to the image of Amsterdam
which is determined by the "new marginality" (Castells 1993:14)-
the very image they try to break down.
Amsterdam tourism policy could develop a perspective of"everyday
life" allowing for a more conceptual approach in city marketing. They
could offer tourists a glance at the (more or less staged) backstages
(MacCannell 1973) of Amsterdam. Gazing at old merchant houses is
a rather limited mode of experiencing the city; to restore some of
these houses, to furnish them in the 17th and 18th century style and to
make them accessible to tourists might enhance their attractiveness.
Encouraging tourists to walk through the older established neigh-
borhoods, or the more recent ethnic ones, to visit the cramped dwell-
ings formerly inhabited by the old working classes and to participate
in ethnic feasts and festivals, accompanied by local guides telling local
tales, might be another strategy for enhancing the tourist experience
(Dahles 1996). The popularity of city centers today is related to what
Hannerz (1992) has called the "organization of diversity". The city
center has the image of being a meeting place of a variety of cultural
flows. The sense of place connected to the Amsterdam city center is
not just one of a cultural separateness expressed through the early
modern built environment. Nor is it just one of cultural cosmo-
politanism, or urban decay. More precisely, the sense of place is
established by a sense of the interrelation of local, national, and global
cultural products, mediated through a process of experiencing cultural
practice by tourists.
CONCLUSION
The most important challenge to be met in European cities, as well
as in major cities throughout the world, is the articulation of the
globally-oriented economic functions of the city within the locally-
rooted society and culture (Castells 1993:20; Chang, Milne, Fallon
and Pohlmann 1996). The cultural-historic specificity of European
cities may be a fundamental asset in creating the conditions for
managing the contradictions between the global market and local
culture. Looking at Amsterdam, its urban tradition as a political
center, as a trade center, and as a center of culture and innovation
has become strategically important especially for cultural tourism. In
their recent efforts to expand Dutch market share and to compete in
a global market, the local government, the Amsterdam Tourist Office,
and the Netherlands Bureau for Tourism have joined forces in a
collaborative marketing strategy treating "Holland Promotion" and
"Amsterdam city marketing" as interchangeable. Amsterdam has
become the selling point for the Netherlands.
This strategic choice has far-reaching consequences for cultural
tourism in Amsterdam. While city marketing has become more tar-
geted and demand-oriented, cultural tourism is still approached as
HEIDI DAHLES 67
REFERENCES
Amsterdam Toeristenstad
1990 Amsterdam Toeristenstad, kijk op de jaren negentig. Gemeente Amsterdam,
Afdeling Economische Zaken.
Ashworth, G.J. andJ. E. Tunbridge
1990 The Tourist-Historic City. London: Belhaven Press.
Ashworth, G.J. and H. Voogd
1990 Selling the City: Marketing in Public Sector Urban Planning. London:
Belhaven Press.
ATO Amsterdam Tourist Office (Annual Reports)
1992 Jaarverslag 1991, Amsterdam: uitgave VVV.
1993Jaarverslag 1992, Amsterdam: uitgave VVV.
1994Jaarverslag 1993, Amsterdam: uitgave VVV.
1995 Jaarverslag 1994, Amsterdam: uitgave VVV.
Beleidsplan Binnenstad
1993 Beleidsplan Binnenstad. Gemeente Amsterdam, Gemeenteblad.
Bianchini, F. and M. Fischer
1988 City Centres, City Cultures: The Role of the arts in the Revitalisation of
Towns and Cities. Manchester: Centre for Local Economic Strategies.
Burgers,J. P. L.
1990 De stad van de jaren negentig: postmoderne nederzetting?. Sociologische
Gids 37(2):74-93.
Castells, M.
1993 European Cities, the Informational Society, and the Global Economy. In
Understanding Amsterdam. Essays on Economic Vitality, City Life and Urban
Form, L6on Deben, Willem Heinemeijer and Dick van der Vaart, eds., pp. 7-24.
Amsterdam: Het Spinhuis.
Chang, T. C., S. Milne, D. Fallon and C. Pohlmann
1996 Urban Heritage Tourism: The Global-Local Nexus. Annals of Tourism
Research 23:284-305.
Dahles, H.
1996 The Social Construction of Mokum: Tourism and the Quest for Local Identity
in Amsterdam. In Coping with Tourists. European Reactions to Mass Tourism,
Jeremy Boissevain, ed., pp. 227-246. Oxford: Berghahn Books.
68 AMSTERDAM AS A DESTINATION
Hannerz, U.
1992 Cultural Complexity: Studies in the Social Organization of Meaning. New
York: Columbia University Press.
Harvey, D.
1989 The Condition of Postmodernity. London: Blackwell.
Het imago van Amsterdam
1992-93 Het imago van Amsterdam. Onderzoek naar het imago van Amsterdam
onder verblijfbezoekers. Amsterdam: VVV.
KPMG
1993 KPMG Klynveld Management Consultants. Toeristische concurrentiepositie
van Amsterdam ten opzichte van tien andere Europese steden. Rapport in
opdracht van de VVV Amsterdam, De Gemeente Amsterdam en het Ministerie
van Economische Zaken.
Law, Ch. M.
1993 Urban Tourism: Attracting Visitors to Large Cities. London: Mansell.
MacCannell, D.
1973 Staged Authenticity: Arrangements of Social Space in Tourist Settings. Amer-
ican Sociological Review 79:589-603.
M&CA
1994 Marketing and Communicatiestrategie voor toeristisch Amsterdam. Mid-
dellange termijnplan voor de periode 1994-1997, opgesteld door VVV Amster-
dam, NBT en KLM. Amsterdam: NBT, KLM, VVV.
Mommaas, H.
1992 The City and Cultural Diversity. Mixing the Local and the Global. Vrijetijd
en samenleving. Tijdschrift voor de Studie van Vrijetijd en Cultuur 10(4):31-46.
NBT
1991 Strategisch Marketing Plan 1991-1995. Nederlands Bureau voor Toerisme,
Leidschendam.
1993 Activiteitenplan 1993. Nederlands Bureau voor Toerisme, Leidschendam.
Nota van uitgangspunten voor de IJ-oevers
1991 Nota van uitgangspunten voor de IJ-oevers. Amsterdam naar het IJ. Vastge-
steld door de Amsterdamse Gementeraad op 27 juni 1991. Amsterdam Dienst
Ruimtelijke Ordening.
Nota Amsterdam en het toerisme
1994 Nota Amsterdam en het toerisme. Een sterker produkt, beter promoten.
Gemeente Amsterdam, Gemeenteblad 1994, Bijlage S.
O'Loughlin, J.
1993 Between Sheffield and Stuttgart. Amsterdam in an Integrated Europe and a
Competitive World Economy. In Understanding Amsterdam. Essays on economic
vitality, city life and urban form, L6on Deben, Willem Heinemeijer, and Dick
van der Vaart, eds., pp. 25-68. Amsterdam: Het Spinhuis.
Omnibusonderzoek
1992-93 Bezoekers in Amsterdam 1992-1993. Omnibusonderzoek naar het profiel
van de d a g - en verblijfsbezoekers in Amsterdam van april 1992 tot mei 1993.
VVV-Amsterdam: Marketing and Research. Amsterdam: Vitgave VVV.
1992-93 Katern 2: Bezoekers naar leeftijd. VVV-Amsterdam: Marketing and
Research. Amsterdam: Uilgave VVV.
1992-93 Katern 3: Bezoekers naar reden bezoek. VVV-Amsterdam: Marketing and
Research. Amsterdam: Uilgave VVV.
Ondernemingsplan Ontwikkeling IJ-oevers
1993 Ondernemingsplan Ontwikkeling IJ-oevers Amsterdam. Amsterdam: Amster-
dam Waterfront.
Richards, G.
1996a The Scope and Significance of Cultural Tourism, In Cultural Tourism in
Europe, Greg Richards, ed., pp. 19-45. Oxon: CAB International.
1996b Cultural Tourism in the Netherlands, In Cultural Tourism in Europe, Greg
Richards, ed., pp. 233-248. Oxon: CAB International.
Shields, R.
1992 Lifestyle Shopping. The Subject of Consumption. London: Routledge.
SM&C
1993 Strategisch Marketing and Communicatieplan 1991-1993. Amsterdam: VVV.
Toerisme en Amsterdam, Various issue Toerisme en Amsterdame.
HEIDI DAHLES 69
Toerisme =Werkgelegenheid
1994 Notitie toeristische werkgelegenheid Amsterdam. Amsterdam: VVV.
TMAP
1994 Toeristisch Marketing-Activiteitenplan 1995. Activiteitenplannen 1995. Uit-
gave NBT/KI,M/VVV, Amsterdam, augustus 1994.
Urry, J.
1990 The Tourist Gaze. Leisure and Travel in Contemporary Societies. London:
Sage.
1995 Tourism, Travel, and the Modern Subject. In Consuming Places,John Urry,
ed., pp. 141-151. London: Routledge.
Van der Poel, H.
1993 Leisure Policy in the Netherlands. In Leisure Policies in Europe, Peter Bram-
ham, Ian Henry, Hans Mommaas and Hugo van der Poel, eds., pp. 41-70. CAB
International.
Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.
Alternative Proxies: