Out of most visited capitals and famous cities of the world, Amsterdam is among the ones that struggle the most with overtourism. Now, a group of local entrepreneurs has come up with a new and quirky way of stirring tourists away from the most crowded areas and into parts of the Dutch city that are equally as beautiful even if not as known – and it involves a wedding.
A fake wedding, actually. The initiative is called “Marry an Amsterdammer for a day,” and it includes, as one might guess, a fake wedding ceremony complete with second-hand dresses, decorations and flowers where a tourist is paired up with a local. After the exchanging of the mock vows and a hug rather than a kiss, the “newlyweds” can leave on their honeymoon, which consists of exploring the less known areas of Amsterdam and maybe taking part in not-so-common activities like picking up plastic from the canals.
The initiative is part of the bigger “Untourist Movement” that launched this week, a platform that wants to think about tourism in an unconventional way to try and make Amsterdam a better and more livable for residents and visitors both. With its Untourist Guide (both online and on an actual paper book), the movement plans to direct tourists onto unusual activities or less known neighbourhoods. It’s an innovative way to try and solve the overtourism situation Amsterdam has to contend with, one that has already led the city council to ban tours of the red lights district starting 2020.
The “Marry an Amsterdammer for a day” initiative starts at €100 a day; for more information on it or on the wider Untourist Movement, you can check out the official website here.
