Prague bans nighttime pub crawls to deal with drunk and rowdy visitors

PRAGUE — The Czech capital has approved a ban on organized nighttime pub crawls, a popular pastime for tourists that has raked in the cash for bars but caused misery for residents and authorities alike.

The outings, which see boisterous tourist groups moving from bar to bar in Prague’s historic district, drew more than 7 million tourists last year. But they have brought loud noises at night and garbage on the streets, and have been one of the more unsavoury outcomes of over-tourism felt across Europe.

Prague finally decided to enforce a ban, which will take effect in November, after trying to deal with groups of rowdy and drunk visitors for years.

Adam Zabranský, a member of the city’s council who drafted the proposal that was approved this week, said the measure will address noise, security and reputational concerns — but its aim wasn't to prevent people from having a drink in this 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 enforced by the city police force between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., with organizers of the pub crawls who violate it facing fines of up to 100,000 koruna ($4,300).

The radical move came after previous efforts to deal with the issue failed, including the appointment of a night mayor in 2019, a city official whose job was to minimize the impact of nightlife on residents.

“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 move is part of the city’s long-term strategy to promote cultural tourism and to attract people to stay longer than just for a weekend and come back again.

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

An agency organizing the pub crawls called the ban “a populist move." A group of dozens of participants on Thursday apparently enjoyed their experience.

“(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, the Drunken Monkey, said in a statement sent to the AP on Friday that by imposing the ban the city ”makes a mistake that will make the situation even worse.”

It argued that organizers and pub crawl guides are the ones “who help the city and police keep people quiet and enforce the rules on noise and others.”

“Without the guides, the problems with noise will become even worse," it said.

The agency said it has not been fined due to noise since its operations began in 2011 and no complaint about noise was registered on the streets they use.

The latest move by Prague doesn’t mean that visitors would face obstacles to tasting local beer in a country that is the world’s largest consumer of the drink per capita.

“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.”