Prague Bids Farewell To Late-Night Pub Crawls, Ending 'Alco-Tourism

Prague has decided to ban organized nighttime pub crawls. While these pub crawls have been a hit with tourists and brought in money for bars, they’ve also been a big headache for locals and the city.

(Photo Credit:AP Photo/Petr David Josek) A group of tourists wait in line outside a bar during a pub crawl tour in downtown Prague, Czech Republic. Prague is saying goodbye to late-night pub crawls, ending the trend of 'alco-tourism.'

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Such outings, which have tourists in rowdy groups touring different bars in the old parts of ‘Prague’, attracted over seven million tourists last year. However, such practices have resulted in noise pollution and littering, and are among the many negative effects of excessive tourism that has been experienced in different parts of Europe.

After years of hardships coping with undisciplined and drunken tourists, who caused the city great distress, Prague has finally resolved to implement a prohibition that will go into effect in November.

According to Adam Zabranský, a member of the city’s council who drafted the proposal that was supported this week, the measure is aimed at dealing with noise, security and reputation issues. The intention was, however, not to stop people from having drinks in a beer-loving country.

"We don’t want to support cheap alco-tourism that’s unfortunately still quite common in Prague,” Zabranský told The Associated Press.

The ban will be implemented by the city police department from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. where organizers who contravene the provisions will be fined up to 100,000 koruna (4,300 US dollars).

This was considered a last resort as more benign approaches such as the appointment of a night mayor, a rather fashionable post created in 2019, designed to mitigate the excesses of a thriving nightlife did not work.

"It would be great if the owners of the establishments take their share of responsibility,” Zabranský said. “As it is, the residents in the busy areas face the negative consequences while the bar owners participating in the pub crawls make profit and don’t care about the problems.”

The initiative seeks to augment tourism in the city’s already existing plans by cultural activities and encourages people to come back to the city instead of just for a weekend.

“People coming to experience culture behave differently than those who arrive to drink all weekend long,” Zabranský said.

An agency promoting the pub crawls called the ban "a populist move." Apparently, a group of dozens of participants on Thursday had fun.

"(The pub crawl) was very nice," Melissa Haine from Germany said. “I think it's very funny, and you get to know new people."

Another agency, called the Drunken Monkey, made a statement to the AP on Friday wherein it said that "the city is making a mistake in imposing such a ban which will make the situation even worse."

It said that it is the organizers and the pub crawl guides who "help the city and the police to keep the noise down and to enforce the other rules."

The agency said "If the guides are removed then the noise problem will be worse."

The agency stated it has never faced any internal noise complaint fines since the commencement of its operation in 2011 and that no noise complaints were reported along the routes they operate.

Prague's move does not imply that tourists would be prevented from enjoying the local beer in a country known to have the highest per capita consumption in the World. 

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

"Our goal is to show that beer travel can be not only about tasting great beer, but also about learning about Czech culture, traditions and history."