I love this idea! Bless the Dutch.
“Tourists visiting the Dutch capital are being invited to marry an Amsterdammer for the day as part of a new initiative to improve relations between locals and visitors.
Nuptials will take place in the city’s vibrant “Latin Quarter” – De Pijp – where happy couples will be kitted out in second-hand wedding clobber. Plastic flowers will add to the ersatz sense of occasion.
And the honeymoon? A day spent skipping around Amsterdam, exploring the hidden nooks that pass most visitors by, sharing ideas and cultures (and possibly other things if the one-day marriage goes well).
The Marry an Amsterdammer initiative, which launches next week, is part of a wider movement to engage more visitors in the Dutch capital proper, steering them away from the tourist trail and hooking them up with local people who are trying to make the city – and the world – a better place….
The Untourist Movement was founded to counter the negativity surrounding tourism in Amsterdam, where 800,000 inhabitants are swamped by around eight million overnight visitors annually.
‘It’s a new way of thinking about tourism that can be helpful in Amsterdam and other cities struggling with this problem,’ explained Simons.”
These are three of the untourist activities:
1. Plastic fishing in canals
2. Feed the Dutch picnic
3. Laughing with Locals
For the rest of this article, see: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/netherlands/amsterdam/articles/a-very-dutch-response-to-overtourism/
Thanks for posting this great idea Kate, and thanks for this great site and all of your work! We so much need a positive event like this to gain attention of the media. Put me on your list for volunteers!
It is so hard not to fall into a tourist hate group in this current political climate and social media platforms. We see more and more mismanagement and poor planing of tourist and public infrastructure. Much of the problem is about how “hospitality corporations” as in corporate hotels and restaurants control local and state gov. which spend tax monies on things like advertising instead of restrooms or public transit. I think we all have to remember that most of us are also tourists unless we happen to be one of the few indigenous survivors of the mass genocides. How do we remember when we are following a car going 25MPH down hwy 1?