LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Now to the Capital of the Czech Republic, Prague, where people visit for its history, its architecture and...
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UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Singing in non-English language).
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Yeah, they're also not tardy for the party, as captured in this video on the YouTube channel Walking OZ.
FADEL: Prague is also famous for its cheap beer. In a lot of places, a beer costs less than a bottle of water. So as you can imagine, that means a lot of tourists head to Prague to get drunk, and it's bothering residents of the city.
GIANCARLO LAMBERTI: We had a lot of complaints from our citizens specifically regarding the increased noise levels in the central district.
MARTÍNEZ: That's Giancarlo Lamberti, a local official for the district that makes up much of the city's historic heart, known as Prague 1. It's also where tourists enjoy late-night pub crawls, which Lamberti says are causing a nuisance.
LAMBERTI: We also had some evidence from the city police that they registered cases of aggression, some disorderly conduct and also driving under the influence.
FADEL: Starting tonight, the city is banning businesses from hosting pub crawls after 10 p.m. Bars will still be allowed to stay open, though.
MARTÍNEZ: But some businesses say the ban won't work. Getting rid of guided tours of local pubs, they say, will make the problem worse.
WILLIAM BARRON: They've decided not really to ban pub crawls, but instead, they've gotten rid of guides. And by getting rid of guides, it's only going to make the problem in the city worse.
MARTÍNEZ: William Barron co-owns The Drunken Monkey Prague, which specializes in tours and events for younger tourists. He says businesses like his already have guardrails to curb rowdy behavior.
BARRON: We have tour guides. We have security, and they're there to make sure that people don't drink alcohol in the streets, aren't loud and singing in public and make it from one place to the other as soon as possible.
FADEL: City officials hope the ban will deter tourists who visit Prague mainly to get drunk cheap and instead attract more, quote, "refined" and "cultured" visitors.
MARTÍNEZ: I mean, well, that sounds like they want me to visit Prague, Leila.
FADEL: Or me, or me.
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FADEL: But Barron says tourists will keep coming to party. He wants the city to find more practical solutions.
BARRON: I know the bars in Prague 1 would help pay for double-pane windows for residents so that they could have soundproofed windows. That's an option.
MARTÍNEZ: Or another option - busing the more annoying tourists elsewhere.
BARRON: We could work with the city in order to have buses to take people outside of the city center to places where there aren't noise problems.
FADEL: Send them to a different city and make it their problem.
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