The Little Prince lives on a tiny asteroid, known to Earthlings as Asteroid B-612, which is barely bigger than a house and features three small volcanoes (two active, one dormant) and his beloved rose, requiring constant care, especially from baobab sprouts, before his journey of exploration1.
During our travel to Amsterdam in the late summer of 1976, one evening we were invited to a dinner in a 17th century canal house.
It was a cloudy evening with a drizzle, the rooftop unit was warm when our host greeted us. I remember a corridor filled with books from floor to ceiling. The dinner was lovely, followed by chatting on a sofa, while a white moon and light grey clouds were moving against a pitch dark sky behind the thin frames of a skylight window.
We said goodbye around midnight, while it was still drizzling outside. Alongside the canal we saw a few windows with lights. Like lanterns, warm light was pouring out, illuminating the road, trees and the canal.
Amsterdam then was a city with immense charm. I fondly remember the museums, Van Gogh and Modern Art. You could still sit on a bench and savour paintings without being obstructed by crowds.
Those days you could spot tourists, but locals were in majority. What you experience as a tourist was more authentic.
There were no personal computers, no Internet, no portable phones. Film cameras took 36 exposures max. The cars were manual and much smaller. The maps were printed on paper and cinemas were still alive.
The world still had mystery.
Fast forward five decades to 2025.
Thomas A P van Leeuwen has a riveting view from his Amsterdam flat. His street, Keizersgracht, is lined with imposing 17th-Century canal houses – but what the academic and author sees each day is distinctly modern. Day after day, tourists form long queues on the bridge, holding up €5.50 (£4.80) cones of fries against the gabled backdrop for TikTok or Instagram posts.
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It is this never-ending onslaught of tourists that has driven Van Leeuwen to fight the chip craze. Along with other neighbours in De Negen Straatjes, he is demanding that the city review the shop's licence. There is a larger conversation happening in the city about overtourism – activist group Amsterdam heeft een keuze ("Amsterdam has a choice") has filed a lawsuit against the city for failing on their promise to limit tourist numbers to 20 million annually2.
Over five decades (ignoring the covid downturn), worldwide tourism has grown from 222 million arrivals in 1975 to a projected 1.5 billion in 2025, near seven-fold increase, driving economic development and global connectivity. Export revenues soared eleven-fold, and tourism now stands as a pillar for many economies, fostering jobs and cultural exchange.
However the mysterious world has long gone. Growth killed wonder. Everything is known and has been discovered. Our world has become a planetary theme park where people queue up at various attractions. Tourism has turned into a frantic performance act. There are now queues even in Mt Everest.
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| Prague, Old Town Square, September 2025 |
People live inside a bright screen they hold in their hands as if they are transported to a different world. There is no need to buy expensive gear for virtual reality, we already have one.
Footnotes:
1: The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince) is a beloved novella by French aviator and author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
2: Excerpt from BBC article Why travellers keep queueing for viral food.
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