Prague metropolis councillors have banned night-time pub crawls organised by journey businesses as a result of town needed to focus on “extra cultured” vacationers.
The Czech capital of 1.3 million folks has for a very long time been a preferred vacation spot for noisy stag events and pub crawlers, largely from Britain.
Prague deputy mayor Zdenek Hrib informed reporters on Monday that organised night-time pub crawls would now be banned.
“It won’t be doable to have guided excursions between 10pm and 6am,” he added.
Jiri Pospisil, one other deputy mayor, mentioned Prague metropolis corridor was “in search of a extra cultured, wealthier vacationer … not one who comes for a short while solely to get drunk”.
Overseas beer lovers have for years helped the Czech Republic maintain its place because the world’s thirstiest nation.
In 2023, a world-leading 128 litres of beer was drunk per head of inhabitants within the Czech Republic, regardless of a gradual decline for the reason that Covid pandemic hit in 2020.
Beer continues to be cheaper than water in some eating places and lots of pubs within the Unesco-listed historic centre supply the acclaimed native lager for lower than €3 a pint.
Vaclav Starek, the top of the Czech Affiliation of Lodges and Eating places, hailed town corridor’s resolution.
“Journeys to the centre seeking beer have been an issue for native folks and for different vacationers too,” he informed AFP. “I don’t assume this may harm our gross sales. No person can be banned from going to a pub however these nightly organised pub crawls … are nothing we would want.”
Prague will not be the primary European capital to begin attempting to discourage a sure sort of vacationer from visiting.
Amsterdam final yr launched a marketing campaign of “keep away” adverts geared toward younger British males which might be triggered when folks in Britain enter phrases into serps akin to “stag social gathering Amsterdam”, “low-cost lodge Amsterdam” and “pub crawl Amsterdam”.
The advertisements describe the dangers and penalties of extreme alcohol and drug taking: fines, a prison report, hospitalisation and everlasting well being harm.
One other marketing campaign launched this yr sought to discourage guests with a web based quiz; anybody who solutions sure to the questions “Would you prefer to discover town with a drink or a spliff/joint in your hand?” or “Would you want a guided tour amongst intercourse employees’ home windows?” is met with the response, “That’s going to be a problem. It’s forbidden.”
Different European cities have additionally launched measures to discourage mass tourism, together with Venice, which has restricted tour group sizes and banned loudspeakers, and Barcelona, which has mentioned it’s going to ban house leases to vacationers by 2028.
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report
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