The girls in Amsterdam’s Red Light District, possibly the world’s most famous city break attraction of its sort, are having an unusually hard time. Vacation consumers are down and those that spend for their services are haggling over rates.
There are reports that some Red Light females have angered other functioning girls by accepting half the regular 50 for standard solutions. The shortage of city break tourists indicates some brothel owners see a complete day pass with no a single client.
The Amsterdam Redl Light girls posing in the neon-lit windows have to pay hefty rents and it is receiving challenging to make money. A single or two customers a day does not even spend for window rent of 150 a day.
Escort agency charges are typically larger than for the girls in the windows but the shortage of nicely-heeled businessmen indicates the regular 175 an hour rate is also possessing to be discounted.
The cut-backs in organization expenses are hitting the far more expensive clubs as holiday guests opt for less expensive alternatives. Many in the Red Light sex market fear a alter in attitudes is also hitting residence.
Amsterdam has a famously liberal attitude to sex and drugs. Yes, prostitution has only been legal since 2000 but the Amsterdam Red Light District has been a main tourist draw for a lot of years. Similarly, the city’s coffee shops, exactly where cannabis can be sold openly set Amsterdam apart as a city break destination.
But the Netherlands is seeing some main changes. Amsterdam’s city government desires to reduce the number of ‘Amsterdam Red Light District windows amidst fears of organised criminal activity. The coffee shops are coming below stress as well.
The Amsterdam sex business is worth at least $ 100m and even a lot more if you count the tourists attracted by the Amsterdam Red Light District who come to appear.
This economic success of the Red Light District brings its troubles, with the city’s officials pointing to an improve in violence. They blame this on the illegal immigration. With around 140 brothels in Amsterdam there’s up to 10,000 prostitutes in the city, the vast majority are from Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia.
Amsterdam’s Mayor Job Cohen is closing clubs and shops as nicely as getting about a third of Red Light District windows and turning them into studios for artists and designers. Officials have turned down the license renewals of about 30 Red Light brothels.
The mayor is also closing some of the city’s 70 marijuana cafes following the Government’s selection to ban the sale of magic mushrooms and the closure of all coffee shops situated near schools. He says, nevertheless, that he doesn’t want to get rid of the Red Light District but lessen it.
This could bring its personal troubles with several of Amsterdam Red Light girls forced on to the streets. It seems the market is undergoing a massive modify, just as Dutch society seems to be embracing a a lot more conservative strategy to many troubles. It will be fascinating to see what takes place to Amsterdam Red Light District in the longer term but there’s small doubt, credit crunch or otherwise, it will remain a city break tourist draw for years to come.