Amsterdam drops in ranking as destination for cultural city trips

DutchAmsterdam.nl — Amsterdam has dropped in popularity as a destination for cultural city trips.

Listed in sixth place in 2000, in 2008 the city ranked in ninth place.

So reports the Atlas Cultural Tourism Project, which surveys visitors to cities in Europe, Asia and America.

The Three Graces, on a balcony overlooking Amsterdam’s Oudezijds Achterburgwal canal [View larger]

A key question in the survey was to name five cities deemed most suitable for a cultural holiday.

In the Top 20 compiled from the data Paris takes the number one spot, followed by Rome and London. Barcelona moved to fourth from seventh place in 2007, and Athens is in fifth place.

Professor Greg Richards, Professor of Social Sciences at the University of Tilburg, is one of the scientists involved with the project.

Richards tells Amsterdam newspaper Het Parool that the city has been by-passed by cities that are ‘fresh.’

“The trend over the past 20 years is that older cultural cities drop somewhat in the rankings, while newcomers such as Berlin are emerging,” he says.

“Barcelona for instance made a great jump from seventh to fourth place. Against those kind of climbers Amsterdam was unable to hold on to its position. The competition is cutthroat.”

In order to climb in the rankings Professor Richards suggests Amsterdam should show that it offers more than just windmills and tulips. “I think the city is already doing this,” he adds.

Asked for his opinion Richards says he does not belief Amsterdam should necessarily rid itself of its ‘drugs image.’

“That’s an interesting discussion,” he says. ” Should you want to get rid of that image? Maybe not. There are plenty of young tourists who visit both the Rijksmuseum and coffeeshops.”
– – © Copyright DutchAmsterdam.nl. Do not republish or repost.

Original content © Copyright DutchAmsterdam.nl
    Do not republish or repost.

Share | Email | Print | Bookmark

Read More About Amsterdam

Amsterdam’s canals to be added to UNESCO World Heritage List
Amsterdam less expensive than last year — and the year before

More About This Topic

Subscribe (free) for more Amsterdam news and info

DutchAmsterdam.nl's Twitter Stream
Get the goods on Amsterdam via email
Get Amsterdam News & Information via 'RSS' News Readers
Subscribe to this topic only: Amsterdam News

What else would you like to know about Amsterdam?