The City of Prague has banned organised night-time pub crawls, in a draft regulation approved today by the City Council, which will come into force as soon as it is published in the Collection of Legal Regulations. The move has been challenged by representatives of the specialised tourist agencies which organise the tours of city centre pubs and bars.
The city district covering the historical centre had demanded the ban, as it is the most affected by the problem of noisy, drunken tourists disturbing the peace.
According to Prague Deputy Mayor Zdenek Hrib (Pirates), the change was discussed with the Prague 1 District Town Hall, the Prague City Tourism municipal company and representatives of licensed guides, who will still be able to operate between 6am and 10pm.
Another Deputy Mayor, Jiri Pospisil (TOP 09), added that the guides had no objections to the ban.
The city is implementing the ban by modifying the market order, a municipal regulation specifying the places where commercial activities can be carried out. The approved amendment banned the “touring provision of services” which includes pub crawls, except for guided tours between 6am and 10pm.
The proposers justified the measure citing the consequences of pub crawls for the city’s life and its administration, such as disturbance of the night peace, increased noise, garbage and mess in public spaces, and the need to ensure security. Another problem is the damage to the reputation and impression of the city by the presence of groups of drunken people in the centre on a regular basis, argues Prague Council.
The Prague Pub Crawl agency, which currently provides the banned service, criticised the city’s step in a statement. It says its clients spend the minimum time outside, and are warned by guides that they must keep quiet after 10pm. If they do not comply, they are excluded from the tour. The last establishment is visited at midnight, and the event ends at 00:30, the agency said.
The agency thus argues that the ban is merely a populist move to cover up the inability of the city management to address problems such as the lack of municipal police officers to oversee and enforce the night-time peace in the streets.
Prague 1 has long been dealing with problems of “alcohol-related tourism”, mainly trips to the Czech capital by young foreigners in order to consume alcohol, and over-tourism in the centre in general.
According to the Czech Statistical Office, 7.4 million tourists stayed in hotels and guesthouses in Prague last year, up by a quarter year-on-year.
