Amsterdam’s iconic ‘I Amsterdam’ sign removed fearing ‘mass tourism’

Yes, you read that right! Amsterdam has taken down its iconic ‘I Amsterdam’ sign fearing ‘mass tourism’. So, from now on, tourists won’t be able to take selfies or get clicked with the sign that has been an identity of the beautiful city of Amsterdam for ages! A sad thing to do with one of the city’s most prominent tourist attraction, but sadder is the reason behind such a strict decision.
Spread outside the famous Rijksmuseum since 2006, these six-foot-tall letters have been removed over the fear of mass tourism, of which the city of Amsterdam is suffering from for a long time now. The step was taken to curb the over-tourism problem, which is quite sad.

It is being said that by the end of the year 2018, the number of tourists will cross a whopping 20 million, which is astoundingly huge. To combat the ever-increasing number, city’s tourism department launched a number of campaigns that included encouraging people to travel to nearby unexplored regions, and also going live and telling the world how overtly populated the city has become these days.
Now that the things have gone too far, Amsterdam government decided to take down the sign that defined the city once and for all, in the hope of curbing the mass tourism. But for the tourists coming to Amsterdam and tourists sake, they have decided to put the sign at certain offbeat places, which are undisclosed.

In fact, it is not only Amsterdam that is suffering from the over tourism crisis but destinations such as Venice, Machu Picchu, and a number of Thai islands too, are going through the same phase.