Prague, a city as famous for its beer as its historic architecture, is set to ban late-night bar crawls, seeking to end its reputation as a party destination.
The Czech capital is the latest European tourism hot spot pushing back on crowds, amid concerns about the impact on locals鈥� quality of life.
Prague鈥檚 deputy mayor, Jiri Pospisil, said the city wants to discourage tourists who come 鈥渇or a short time only to get drunk鈥� in favor of 鈥渁 more cultured, wealthier tourist,鈥� according to the AFP news agency. Fellow deputy mayor Zdenek Hrib said the ban, which is yet to be made law, will take place between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. local time.
Over the past two decades, partly thanks to the boom in budget airlines, Prague has become a go-to destination for bachelor and bachelorette parties, particularly from the UK.
The news, announced on Monday, follows complaints from residents in Prague 1, the city鈥檚 historic district 鈥� home to the UNESCO-protected Old Town Square, Prague Castle and the Charles Bridge 鈥� over noise caused by rowdy pub crawls.
'Nobody will be banned from going to a pub'
Vaclav Starek, head of the Czech Association of Hotels and Restaurants, praised the decision, telling AFP that 鈥渢rips to the centre in search of beer have been a problem for local people and for other tourists too.鈥�
The ban only impacts agency-organized group tours, and will not prevent individual groups organizing their own bar crawl or staying out late drinking. As Starek pointed out, 鈥渘obody will be banned from going to a pub.鈥�
Simon Old, who works as the Prague specialist for StagWeb.co.uk and GoHen.com, two UK-based tour agencies that organize 鈥渟tag and hen鈥� bachelor and bachelorette parties for Brits abroad, suggested the ban won鈥檛 鈥渄eter stags and hens from heading to Prague at all.鈥�
Calling the ban 鈥渉alf-hearted,鈥� in a statement provided to Old added that 鈥渨hilst they鈥檙e well within their rights to try and curb anti-social behavior, people will just do their own pub crawls or do them earlier on.鈥�
鈥淏eing a destination that has profited for years on its reputation for being a bit of a party city, it seems like they鈥檙e trying to have their cake and eat it with this,鈥� he said.
Prague joins many cities across Europe that have been pushing back against tourists in recent months. Officials in Venice, Italy recently limited tour group sizes to 25 people and banned megaphones, while Barcelona鈥檚 mayor plans to end apartment rentals for tourists by 2028.
