Prague city councillors said on Monday they had banned night-time pub crawls organised by travel agencies because the city wanted to target "more cultured" tourists.

The Czech capital of 1.3 million people has for a long time been a popular destination for noisy stag parties and pub crawlers, largely from Britain.

Prague deputy mayor Zdenek Hrib told reporters on Monday that organised night-time pub crawls would now be banned.

"It will not be possible to have guided tours between 10:00 pm and 6:00 am (2000-0400 GMT)," he added.

Jiri Pospisil, another deputy mayor, said Prague city hall was "seeking a more cultured, wealthier tourist... not one who comes for a short time only to get drunk".

Foreign beer lovers have for years helped the Czech Republic keep its position as the world's thirstiest nation.

In 2023, the average Czech -- all citizens, including newborns -- drank a world-leading 128 litres of beer despite a steady decline since the Covid pandemic hit in 2020.

Beer is still cheaper than water in some restaurants and many pubs in the UNESCO-listed historic centre offer the acclaimed local lager for fewer than three dollars (euros) a pint.

Vaclav Starek, head of the Czech Association of Hotels and Restaurants, hailed the city hall's decision.

"Trips to the centre in search of beer have been a problem for local people and for other tourists too," he told AFP.

"I don't think this will hurt our sales. Nobody will be banned from going to a pub but these nightly organised pub crawls... are nothing we would need."