CNN
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Prague, a city as famous for its beer as its historic architecture, is set to ban late-night bar crawls, seeking to end its reputation as a party destination.

The Czech capital is the latest European tourism hotspot to push back crowds, amid concerns about the impact on residents’ quality of life.

Prague Deputy Mayor Jiri Pospisil said the city wanted to discourage tourists who come “for a short time just to get drunk” in favor of a “more cultured and wealthier tourist”, according to the agency AFP press release. Deputy Mayor Zdenek Hrib said the ban, which has not yet been enacted, will take place between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. local time.

Over the past two decades, thanks in part to the boom in budget airlines, Prague has become a popular destination for stag and hen parties, particularly from the UK.

The news, announced Monday, follows complaints from residents of Prague 1, the city’s historic district – home to the UNESCO-protected Old Town Square, Prague Castle and Charles Bridge – about noise caused by noisy bar crawls.

“No one will be banned from going to a pub”

Vaclav Starek, president of the Czech Association of Hotels and Restaurants, welcomed the decision, telling AFP that “trips to the center in search of beer have been a problem for the local population and for other tourists as well “.

The ban only applies to group tours organized by agencies and will not prevent individual groups from organizing their own bar crawls or staying out to drink late. As Starek pointed out, “no one will be banned from going to a pub.”

Simon Old, who works as a Prague specialist for StagWeb.co.uk and GoHen.com, two UK-based travel agencies that organize stag and hen parties for Brits abroad, suggested that the ban would not “deter deer.” and the chickens to go to Prague.

Calling the ban “half-hearted,” in a statement provided to CNN Travel, Old added that “while they have every right to try to combat anti-social behavior, people will just do their own tours ads or will do them sooner. on.”

“Being a destination that has for years benefited from its reputation as a somewhat party town, it seems like they’re trying to have the cake and eat it with this,” he said.

Prague joins many European cities that have turned away tourists in recent months. Authorities in Venice, Italy, recently limited the size of tourist groups to 25 people and banned megaphones, while the mayor of Barcelona plans to end apartment rentals for tourists by 2028.