The historic Dutch village of Zaanse Schans is well known for its windmills, which a heck of a lot of tourists want to go to see. Indeed, they are some of the most picturesque examples in the Netherlands, and easy to get to from Amsterdam.
Last year, 2.6 million people visited - a gigantic amount for a small place with a resident population of just 100. It is far too many tourists, says the local council. And so, it has announced that from next spring it will charge every visitor from outside the area €17.50 ($20.50; £15) to enter, to try to control the numbers.
It's very rare for a community to take such a measure, but talking to Marieke Verweij, director of the village's museum, you can understand why they want to do this. In 2017 we had 1.7 million visitors… this year we're heading for 2.8 million, she says. But this is a small place! We just don't have room for all these people!
Worse, says Marieke Verweij, visitors often don't know that people live here so they walk into their gardens, they walk into their houses, they pee into their gardens, they knock on doors, they take pictures, they use selfie sticks to peek into the houses. So no privacy at all.
The plan is to get everyone to book and pay online. The sweetener for tourists is that for the €17.50 they get admission to two things they currently have to pay for separately anyway – entry to the museum and to the inside of the windmills.
If only half the current numbers keep visiting after the admission charge is introduced, annual revenues will be around €24.5m. The council plans to spend the money on maintenance of the windmills and on new infrastructure. New toilets, for example. But the shop and restaurant owners are not happy at all.
It's awful. It will mean that people who don't have a big wallet won't be able to come here, says Sterre Schaap, co-owner of a local gift shop.
As the winds stir the sails of the iconic windmills, mixed feelings about this new policy linger. Will this beautiful village still retain its charm while managing the balance between tourist appeal and residents' privacy?
Last year, 2.6 million people visited - a gigantic amount for a small place with a resident population of just 100. It is far too many tourists, says the local council. And so, it has announced that from next spring it will charge every visitor from outside the area €17.50 ($20.50; £15) to enter, to try to control the numbers.
It's very rare for a community to take such a measure, but talking to Marieke Verweij, director of the village's museum, you can understand why they want to do this. In 2017 we had 1.7 million visitors… this year we're heading for 2.8 million, she says. But this is a small place! We just don't have room for all these people!
Worse, says Marieke Verweij, visitors often don't know that people live here so they walk into their gardens, they walk into their houses, they pee into their gardens, they knock on doors, they take pictures, they use selfie sticks to peek into the houses. So no privacy at all.
The plan is to get everyone to book and pay online. The sweetener for tourists is that for the €17.50 they get admission to two things they currently have to pay for separately anyway – entry to the museum and to the inside of the windmills.
If only half the current numbers keep visiting after the admission charge is introduced, annual revenues will be around €24.5m. The council plans to spend the money on maintenance of the windmills and on new infrastructure. New toilets, for example. But the shop and restaurant owners are not happy at all.
It's awful. It will mean that people who don't have a big wallet won't be able to come here, says Sterre Schaap, co-owner of a local gift shop.
As the winds stir the sails of the iconic windmills, mixed feelings about this new policy linger. Will this beautiful village still retain its charm while managing the balance between tourist appeal and residents' privacy?
