Helms now runs five Green House coffee shops in Amsterdam a sign of how business has boomed over the last decade, with soaring numbers of tourists arriving in the Dutch capital.
In 2019, more than 20 million foreign visitors came to the city, which has a population of just over 800,000 within the city limits.
The outside facade of a Green House coffee shop in Amsterdam. Credit:
Courtesy of Green House
Over the last few years, Amsterdam’s City Council has adopted increasingly aggressive measures to combat the overwhelming number of visitors. An advertising campaign by the Dutch tourist board in 2019 actively encouraged visitors to go elsewhere in the Netherlands. Airbnb has restricted rentals and the Council is in the process of attempting to move the famous red-light district and its sex workers to a purpose-built center elsewhere in Amsterdam.
Amsterdam officials have agreed on a proposal by the city s mayor to shutter its famous red-light district s brothels and move sex workers out of the city centre, the Guardian has reported.
At a Thursday meeting, the majority of Amsterdam s city council said they were in favour of creating a new erotic centre outside of the central district, according to local news reports.
Amsterdam s city council has gained cross-party support - including that of Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte, according to the newspaper - for the effort and says it will overhaul the historic medieval De Wallen ( The Walls ) neighbourhood of the city, which has long struggled with the bad behaviour of tourists.
A general view of the Windows in the Red Light District which comes from the red neon lights that highlight the windows where prostitution is legal, but the area is also famous for its canals, coffeeshops selling marijuana or cannabis, brothels, sex shops and museums on what would be a usually busy Saturday night on April 04, 2020 in Amsterdam, Netherlands (Getty Images)
Where is the new red-light district going to be set up?
During a meeting held on Thursday, January 28, the majority of Amsterdam’s city council said they were in favor of creating a new “erotic center” outside of the central district. As per reports, Amsterdam’s city council has gained cross-party support, including that of Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte, for this.
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From technologically competent spinach to flying cars, today s stories sound like something out of a Jetsons episode.
1. X-Rated Amsterdam nights are coming to an endLovers of long, R-rated weekends in Amsterdam will have to get used to new surroundings in the future as the city is set to move its infamous red-light district outside the city centre. The red light district is currently located in De Wallen, a historic part of Amsterdam’s city centre, and is enclosed in a triangle surrounded by Warmoesstraat, Zeedijk, and the street running east from Dam Square.