Amsterdam is appealing to other Dutch cities to absorb some of the tourists who come to the Dutch capital, the Parool said on Wednesday.

The city’s marketing department has already made moves to encourage tourists to stay in Haarlem, Zandvoort and Muiden and is now focusing on Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, the paper said.

‘This will help reduce the pressure. It could be our salvation,’ the city’s mayor, Eberhard van der Laan, said in an interview. Many Amsterdammers, particularly those in the city centre, say there are now too many tourists and that shops focusing on souvenirs and fast food are becoming too dominant.

Increases

This year, 17 million tourists are expected to come to Amsterdam, and the total is forecast to rise to 23 million by 2025. Van der Laan said it is the city’s responsibility to help others to share in its success.

If tourists do stay in other cities, they should be offered free public transport to Amsterdam, the mayor said.

On Tuesday, the Parool reported that almost one in 13 properties in the city centre is rented out via Airbnb.