Prague bans night pub tours for groups of tourists
Kyiv • UNN
The Prague authorities have banned organized night tours of pubs for tourist groups from 22:00 to 6:00. The decision was made due to complaints from residents about noise and garbage and security problems in the city center.
The Prague authorities have decided to ban night tours of pubs and other similar establishments as part of organized tourist groups due to complaints from local residents about noise and garbage, as well as safety issues, UNN reports citing the BBC.
Details
City officials say that organized hikes, so-called pub tours, primarily aimed at foreign tourists, will be banned from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
The Prague City Hall has approved amendments to the legislation restricting "organized movements of tourists from pub to pub that disturb the night time peace, especially in the city center.
Deputy Mayor Jiri Pospisil said he wants the city to become a place where "civility and respect for public space is a priority.
The authorities of the Czech capital also complain that the crowd of drunken tourists negatively affects the city's reputation.
Prague is not the only city trying to cope with the crowds of noisy tourists. Previously, the authorities of Venice, Amsterdam, Barcelona, and other popular tourist destinations have tried to do this.
Officials in the central Prague 1 district, much of which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to most of the city's pubs, restaurants, bars, and breweries, welcomed the move.
Local police will be responsible for enforcing the ban.
The Prague Pub Crawl company, which organizes bar tours, criticized the decision of the city authorities, calling it "a populist move to hide the inability of the city leadership to solve real problems, such as the lack of municipal police officers.
Vaclav Starek of the Czech Association of Hotels and Restaurants told AFP that he believes the ban will not affect business.
"I don't think it will affect sales. No one will be banned from going to the pub, but we don't need these organized pub crawls every night," he said.
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According to the Czech Statistical Office, last year the city of 1.3 million people received about 7.4 million tourists. Travelers are attracted not only by Prague's sights and architecture, but also by its cheap beer, which in some establishments is cheaper than water. According to statistics, the country annually consumes the most beer per capita in the world.
