No more “alcohol tourism”: Prague says goodbye to nighttime pub crawls | Journey

The Czech capital has approved a ban on late-night bar crawls, a popular pastime for tourists that has brought in money for bars but has caused misery for locals and authorities.

The outings, which see groups of noisy tourists moving from bar to bar in Prague’s historic district, attracted more than 7 million tourists last year. But they caused noise at night and litter in the streets, and were one of the most unpleasant results of the overtourism felt across Europe.

Prague finally decided to impose a ban, which will come into effect in November, after years of trying to deal with groups of rowdy and drunk visitors.

Adam Zabranský, a city council member who authored the proposal approved this week, said the measure would address noise, safety and reputation concerns, but that its goal was not to stop people from having a drink in this beer-loving country. .

“We do not want to support cheap alcohol tourism which is unfortunately still quite common in Prague,” Zabranský told the Associated Press.

The ban will be enforced by municipal police between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., and pub crawl organizers who violate it will face fines of up to 100,000 crowns ($4,300).

The drastic move came after previous efforts to address the problem failed, including the appointment of a night mayor in 2019, a municipal official whose job was to minimize the impact of nightlife on residents.

“It would be great if the owners of the establishments took their share of responsibility,” Zabranský said. “As it stands, people in busy neighborhoods suffer the negative consequences, while bar owners who participate in pub crawls make profits and don’t care about the problems.”

The move is part of the city’s long-term strategy to promote cultural tourism and encourage people to stay longer than just a weekend and come back.

“People who come to experience the culture behave differently from those who come to drink all weekend,” Zabranský said.

A pub crawl organizing agency called the ban a “populist measure”. A group of dozens of participants Thursday apparently enjoyed their experience.

“(The pub crawl) was very nice,” said Melissa Haine from Germany. “I think it’s a lot of fun and you get to know new people.”

Another agency, Drunken Monkey, said in a statement sent to the AP Friday that by imposing the ban, the city is “making a mistake that will only make the situation worse.”

He argued that pub crawl organizers and guides are the ones “who help the city and the police keep people quiet and enforce rules about noise and such.”

“Without these guides, the noise problems will get even worse,” he said.

The agency said it has not been fined for noise since it began operations in 2011 and no noise complaints have been recorded on the streets it uses.

Prague’s latest move does not mean visitors will face barriers to tasting local beer in a country that is the world’s largest consumer of the drink per capita.

“Czechia has exceptional potential for brewing tourism, thanks to its long brewing history, unique breweries and the current trend of experiential and sustainable tourism,” said František Reismüller, head of the country’s tourism authority.

“Our goal is to show that traveling around beer can not only serve to taste good beer, but also to discover Czech culture, traditions and history.”