British stag groups flock to Prague as Czech capital becomes "Amsterdam of the East"

Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, the Czech capital Prague has become one of the most visited tourist destinations in Europe. But in the last few years Prague has also become hugely popular with British stag groups, many of whom come for the cheap beer - and the cheap sex. Why has the city become "the Amsterdam of the East"? And how do the Czech authorities feel about the trend? Radio Prague's Ian Willoughby reports.

It's a busy Saturday evening here on Prague's Wenceslas Square, and the city's main thoroughfare is thronged with tourists, including several groups of young British men. Some are wearing identical t-shirts identifying themselves as stag groups, celebrating some husband-to-be's last weekend of freedom. And many of these stag parties have come to the Czech capital because of Prague's growing reputation as a place you can have a good time, on the cheap.

English lads: "There's fifteen of us in various places, all doing the same thing - all in strip clubs. Beautiful women, beautiful women, culture, beautiful blonde-haired culture. We like all that."

English guy: "We had some drinks, but mainly sex."

Scottish guy: "Listen, it's a beautiful city, and the architecture is fantastic. But what we're saying is it's built up a culture now that's a stag weekend...and people enjoying themselves. Cheap beer, it's easy to get to - two hours from the UK. Fantastic, fantastic."

Scottish guy: "I've been to Amsterdam maybe eight, nine times - kept saying I'd go to Prague...here now...cheap as chips! Cheap as chips!"

Tom Kenyon: "If you enter 'Prague stag' or something like that on Google you'll get at least 100,000 hits, and there'll be at least 100 companies there you can choose from."

says Tom Kenyon of one of the biggest stag weekend organisers, Prague Pissup.

"It's actually really got popular since around 2002, so we're actually only talking about a short period of time, probably the last two or three years that things have really skyrocketed. First of all definitely the biggest driver is the cheap flights - I read somewhere there are 20 cheap flights a day arriving in Prague."

Bringing, estimates Tom Kenyon, 40,000 Brits to Prague for stag weekends every year. And the impact on the city's economy is substantial: around 10 million euros a year, he says.

But how do the Czech authorities feel about the stag phenomenon? Rostislav Vondruska is the director of state agency Czech Tourism.

"I think they are not giving Prague a bad name right now, but it could happen if the future if we actively promoted this kind of tourism - but that will not happen."

Do you think some tourists maybe wouldn't come here because they see on the streets these drunk Brits?

"I don't think so. I mean the stag party participants tend to spend a hundred percent of their time in pubs. I don't think there's a collision between normal tourists and stag parties."

So for now it seems the Czech authorities are taking a 'hands off' approach to stag tourism. But in any case, says Tom Kenyon of Prague Pissup, the Czech capital is facing increasing competition in this area from other destinations in the former Eastern Bloc, such as Budapest and Bratislava.