Poland hoping gay tourists will deter stag parties
August 19th, 2008 by Rosie
Fed up with stag party carnage, tourist authorities in the medieval Polish city of Krakow are starting to target gay tourists instead, reports The Observer.
“Research shows that gays and lesbians spend significantly more on holidays and entertainment than tourists travelling with family or friends,’ said Izabela Helbin, from Krakow’s marketing and promotion office, to newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza. “We plan to make money on this.”
The move is proving to be unpopular in some sections of the deeply catholic country, with opposition from church leaders and conservative politicians.
“I’ve been told by my bosses that I’m not allowed to speak on this subject,” said Magdalena Sroka, who heads the Krakow Festival Office. But she confirmed that plans to advertise the city to a gay clientele were in progress.
British stag parties have been drawn to Krakow for years, lured in by cheap flights and cheap beer. But locals are less than impressed by their behaviour.
“They hassle waitresses about sex and brothels,” said barmaid Kasia Krol. ” They’ve started drinking out of their shoes, which they think is really funny. They drop ash and spill beer and vomit, and then they go off to brothels.”
However, some groups in Poland seem to think that gay tourists would be even more offensive.
“I don’t know which is worse!’ said Piotr Kucharski, spokesman for the Christian Culture Association In the Name of Father Piotr Skarga, to The Observer. The Association has organised an email protest campaign and a demonstration in Krakow against the new policy.
“Drunken Britons may get their genitals out in public,” added Kucharski, “But we don’t want gays performing public obscenities either.”
“We respect people, their autonomy and personal choices,” said Agata Tatara, Krakow city councillor and member of the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party. “However, we do not support the promotion of perverse behaviour.”
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