On irony and beer tourism, Czech-style.

Here’s a Radio Praha story from March, 2006, that I found while perusing the World Wide Web for information pertaining to our forthcoming beercycling trip to Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic – where we’ll be foreigners, and consuming beer …

Association: Foreigners a growing factor in domestic beer consumption.

The Czech Beer and Malt Association has revealed that a growing number of foreign visitors are an increasing factor in domestic beer consumption. Last year, tourists accounted for between 15 - 20 percent of the total 16 million hectolitres of beer consumed on Czech soil. Domestic beer consumption has long hovered at an average 160 litres per head - and tourists reportedly average 24 to 31 litres. Frantisek Krakes, chairman of the Czech Beer and Malt Association has remarked that beer drinking ranks just behind historic sites and cultural events as one of the more important reasons tourists visit.