Old small Albert Heijn supermarket at Zaanse Schans

News of: Sunday, February 09 2014,

Zaanse Schans suffocated by tourism?

Inhabitants of the famous open-air 'museum' Zaanse Schans complain about the increasing number of visitors.

The Zaanse Schans is a village that consists of a collection of historic windmills and other historic buildings. Other than some people expect, access to the area is free: the buildings in de Zaanse Schans are inhabited and the streets are publicly accessible.

About 20 years ago, the number of visitors was about 500,000 per year. In 2011 this had risen to 1.2 million and in 2013 to 1.5 million.
Unmanageble say some who live there. It is always busy, the numbers are getting annoyingly large. Some demand the Zaanse Schans be closed off with a fence, others demand putting a stop to the public relation efforts to get more visitors.

The Foundation that manages the Zaanse Schans recognizes the complaints, but does not want to close off the area.

Similarly, inhabitants of the centre of Amsterdam are also starting to complain more often about the increasing number of tourists (pollution, noise, busy streets, more tourist shops and less 'ordinary' shops, etc.)

Generally, tourism to the Netherlands has been growing a lot the last few decades, particularly from Asian countries.

Old small Albert Heijn supermarket at Zaanse Schans

Old small Albert Heijn supermarket at Zaanse Schans

Windmill at Zaanse Schans

Windmill at Zaanse Schans

Zaanse style garden mosaic

Zaanse style garden mosaic

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