Prague City Council said councilors had approved amendments that would “restrict the organized movement of tourists from pub to pub, particularly disrupting the nighttime peace in the centre”.
The change was made for noise, safety, and cleanliness reasons. Crowds of drunk tourists also had a negative impact on the city’s reputation, councilors claimed.
Officials in the heart of Prague One, most of which is a UNESCO World Heritage site and home to many bars, welcomed the move.
“This is a welcome change that will reduce the negative impact of excessive noise on the streets,” said Prague One Mayor Terezy Radomerska.
Police will be responsible for enforcing the ban.
Councilors said the disorderly behavior had left cleaning and police services “overstretched” and strained the city’s resources.
Stepan Kuchta, a resident of Prague, told the Times newspaper that his health was “ruined by chronic noise.”
But the Prague Pub Crawl, which organizes drinking tours, called the city’s decision “nothing more than a populist move to cover up the inability of city officials to address real problems, such as the lack of local police to enforce night-time peace.” “He criticized.
According to Statistics Czech Republic, this city with a population of 1.3 million welcomed about 7.4 million tourists last year.
Historically, many tourists have been attracted by the Czech capital’s beautiful historical features and cheap beer. It may be cheaper than bottled water in some restaurants and pubs.
Vaclav Starek of the Czech Hotels and Restaurants Association welcomed the city council’s decision. Mr Starek told news agency AFP he did not think his business would be affected.
“I don’t think this will hurt our sales. No one will be banned from going to the pub, but these nightly organized pub crawls… we don’t need anything.”
