UK tourists in Prague warned over new eight-hour ban which is 'daily'
ANOTHER European city will launch a major crackdown on tourists with a daily eight-hour ban. European Union holiday hotspot Prague is trying to move away from this and attract "more cultured" and "wealthier" visitors who will appreciate it for more than just its alcohol-based entertainment.
Councillors have banned organised pub crawls and drinking tours between the hours of 10pm and 6am every day. Jiri Pospisil, one of the Czech capital's deputy mayors, said: "[We're] seeking a more cultured, wealthier tourist … not one who comes for a short time only to get drunk."
Prague has already banned "beer bikes" and, in April, a councillor called for fancy dress outfits that "exceed generally acceptable social conventions" to be banned. Vaclav Starek, head of the Czech Association of Hotels and Restaurants, highlighted the problem organised bar crawls caused and welcomed this new daily ban.
He told AFP: "Trips to the centre in search of beer have been a problem for local people and for other tourists too. I don’t think this will hurt our sales. Nobody will be banned from going to a pub but these nightly organised crawls … are nothing we would need."
The city’s councillors have banned night-time pub crawls organised by travel agencies because the city would prefer to target “more cultured” tourists rather than British stag parties. Speaking about the decision to reporters on Monday, another deputy mayor for Prague city hall Jiri Pospisil revealed that the council was “seeking a more cultured, wealthier tourist” and “not one who comes for a short time only to get drunk”.
Simon Old, Prague specialist for two of the UK’s leading stag and hen party providers, StagWeb.co.uk and GoHen.com said: “It’s a bit of a half-hearted ban to stop pub crawls from 10 pm." Old explained: “Whilst they’re well within their rights to try and curb anti-social behaviour, people will just do their own pub crawls or do them earlier on” and told db: “Being a destination that has profited for years on its reputation for being a bit of a party city, it seems like they’re trying to have their cake and eat it with this. I don’t think it will deter stags and hens from heading to Prague at all.”