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Prague is to ban night-time pub crawls organised by travel agencies, in a bid to deter rowdy tourists from visiting and attracting more “refined” visitors instead. <\/p>\n
The Czech capital’s authorities say organised pub crawls – often aimed at foreign stag and hen dos – will be banned between 22:00 and 06:00 local time (21:00-05:00 BST).<\/p>\n
Deputy mayor Jiri Pospisil said he wanted the city to become a place where “refinement and respect for shared public space are a priority”.<\/p>\n
Prague is not alone in its bid to deter rowdy tourists – many from the UK. Last year, Amsterdam launched a campaign to discourage young British men from travelling to the Dutch capital to use drugs and drink heavily.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The Prague City Council said councillors had approved an amendment limiting “organised movements of tourists from pub to pub, disrupting the night peace especially in the centre”.<\/p>\n
The change was made on noise, safety and cleanliness grounds. Crowds of drunk tourists also negatively affect the reputation of the city, councillors claimed. <\/p>\n
Officials in the central Prague One district, most of which is a Unesco World Heritage Site and where many bars are located, welcomed the move. <\/p>\n
Prague One mayor Terezie Radomerska said it was a “welcome change” which would “reduce the negative effects caused by excessive noise in the streets”. <\/p>\n
Police will be charged with enforcing the ban.<\/p>\n
Councillors said disorderly behaviour had led to “an excessive deployment” of cleaning and police services, stretching the city’s resources. <\/p>\n
Prague resident Stepan Kuchta told the Times newspaper his health had been “ruined by chronic noise”.<\/p>\n
But Prague Pub Crawl, which organises the drunken excursions, panned the city’s decision as “merely a populist move to cover up the city management’s inability to address real issues, such as the lack of municipal police officers to enforce night-time peace”.<\/p>\n
The city of 1.3 million welcomed around 7.4 million tourists last year, according to the Czech Statistical Office.<\/p>\n
Historically, many tourists have been enticed by the Czech capital’s beautiful historic features and cheap beers – which in some restaurants and pubs can be cheaper than bottled water.<\/p>\n
Vaclav Starek of the Czech Association of Hotels and Restaurants welcomed the city council’s decision. Mr Starek told the AFP news agency that he didn’t think business would be affected. <\/p>\n
“I don’t think this will hurt our sales. Nobody will be banned from going to a pub but these nightly organised pub crawls … are nothing we would need.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n