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People cheer for their favorite team in World Cup soccer matches. Marijuana can be smelled from coffee shops. Hordes of tourists shuffle along the narrow streets, making it difficult — if not impossible — for a car or even a bike to pass through.

Some men stop and ask the sex workers about their services. Most of the time they simply stare or look as they walk.

A man wearing jeans and a baseball cap is taking a picture of his friend at a establishment near the Voorburgwal canal. They trade places for another photo, then walk off, laughing.

Amsterdam’s tourism revitalization plan to attract many million overnight visitors by 2024, according to the city’s statistical and public-private marketing department

It is another day in one of the world’s most notorious tourist hubs. But if city officials have their way, the De Wallen neighborhood, as it’s known locally, will eventually draw visitors who come to appreciate its unique heritage, architecture and culture instead of its vices.

This year, Amsterdam is expected to receive more than 18 million overnight visitors. By 2024, that number could reach 23 million, in addition to another 24-25 million day visits, according to the local authority’s research and statistics department. The city council is expected to intervene when the number of overnight visitors exceeds 18 million.

The general manger of the Mvenpick Hotel Amsterdam City Center says that they should get rid of sex, drugs and rock and roll. The city is a little bit on the edge, it’s not bad. But that’s not a free [pass] to come here and misbehave.”

Most of the members of the Luxury Hotels of Amsterdam, which consists of 24 four- and five-star hotels, generally approve of the city’s efforts to improve its reputation through various measures.

“As hoteliers, we feel that it’s good to come to a city that is nice to be in,” Groenhuijzen says. “It was the strength of Amsterdam to have the right balance.”

The director of Amsterdam & Partners, the city’s public-private marketing nonprofit, estimates that 10% to 15% of Amsterdam’s tourist industry is located in the Red Light District. On weekends, the old city center is really unlivable because of the overcrowding and the disruptive tourists.

Udo described the city’s tourism rebooted as a multi-tiered approach with specific campaigns designed to target unique groups of visitors, while making the city more appealing to residents and more safe for tourists.

One particular measure would target visitors that drive in from all over the Netherlands, and from Germany, and sleep in their cars instead of staying in a hotel.

The Future of the Red Light District : Why the “Red Lights Are Not Going Out”? A Commentary on the Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema

Udo avoids using “Red Light District” when discussing the plans. It’s become a theme park name for a neighborhood. “And if we … want to change the perception, you should not keep talking about the Red Light District if you prefer the red lights to go out.”

The lights are still shining. If the proposed erotic center is not built, the window brothels may go in the coming year.

The “erotic hotel” idea was put forward by Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema who is the first female mayor of the Dutch capital.

They claim that taking away the visibility of the windows makes their work less safe, and that placing the center in a remote area of the city, far from well-known tourist areas, would harm their business.

Jeroen de Jong, chief operating officer of Amsterdam Red Light District Tours , whose app offers self-guided tours through the district (in-person tours were banned at the start of 2020), predicted that the erotic center “will fail and become a financial catastrophe.”

De Jong also noted that there are a couple more areas around Amsterdam with window brothels. Sex workers in the capital can choose to work in a variety of places.

It is not known when the 15,000-square-foot center, which has a commissioned architect on board, will officially open. Following fierce opposition to the first eight proposed sites , the city has delayed the decision and may expand the list to include additional sites, Dutch newspaper Het Parool reported.

Halsema is determined. She told the media outlet Dutch News.NL that she hopes it’s possible to create an erotic center that has class and distinction and that people who are not ashamed to go there. This fall.

The future of the Red Light District is unknown but for now, business is going swimmingly. And for many of the workers and customers who frequent adult novelty shops, cannabis cafes, porn shows and other enterprises in the neighborhood, that’s the way it should be.

The Amsterdam Sex Industry: Why the City Needs More Traffic and More Drugs, More Nights and Less Nights in the Red Light District

“[Government] just wants to regress everything, move it away, get all these fancy houses back to rich people,” says Linda Nap, an employee of a sex accessories shop in De Wallen, in between a steady stream of customers.

The city would be much better served by increasing its police presence in the Red Light District and not spending money on anti-tourism campaigns. A frequently heard complaint is that they don’t want more rules, but more police and enforcers.

Nap says that the city’s continued measures will strip the neighborhood of its unique spirit, because many of her customers are sex workers. And while she understands residents’ frustrations about overcrowding and noise, she contends that the realities about living in the neighborhood have always been highly visible.

“[The sex industry] has been here since the 1600s — people don’t come here only for the canals and tulips,” Nap says. “Leave it be. If you have a problem, then move somewhere else.”

In a bid to improve the quality of life for residents, Amsterdam will ban the use of marijuana on the street and take new steps to discourage alcohol in its red light district, the traditional center of the city’s legal sex work trade.

“Tourists also attract street dealers, who in turn promote criminality and insecurity. At night, the atmosphere can become gloomy. People who stay around are under the influence.

It said it hoped the smoking ban would reduce nuisance. If this doesn’t work, the municipality said it would also consider banning take-out purchases of soft drugs at certain times, and banning smoking marijuana at coffee shops’ outdoor seating areas.