Latvia counts cost of stag excess

By Greig Watson
BBC News

The authorities want people to come for the city's culture

After shaking off the worst of the communist era, Latvia quickly became a popular foreign destination for stag nights attracted by cheap hotels and plentiful beer.

But for Latvia and its ornate capital Riga, along with the tourist money came a cost.

Rowdy behaviour from groups of celebrating tourists went from excusable boisterousness to anti-social excess.

Much of the trouble centred on Riga's imposing Freedom Monument, a symbol of Latvia's struggle for independence and an emotive national touchstone.

Tourists have been arrested and fined for relieving themselves on the 138ft (42m) monument, or climbing on it to pose for photographs, sometimes naked.

Language barrier

And for David Birkinshaw, 33, and Matthew Neale, 35, both from Derby, the mix of stag party high spirits and alcohol had serious consequences.

The pair were arrested after a fight in June 2008 and accused of assaulting a police officer.

They claimed to have misunderstood the charges against them and, after returning to the UK, found themselves being extradited to Latvia weeks later.

The pair, who had both denied involvement, have now been cleared by a Latvian court.

Matthew Neale (left) and David Birkinshaw have been cleared

Their case attracted support from Conservative East Midlands Euro-MP Roger Helmer, who expressed concern over their prison conditions and local Labour ward councillor Ranjit Banwait, who handed a 1,500-name petition in support of the men to the Latvian Embassy.

The men's lawyer, Jelena Kvjatkovska, said she saw a lot of similar cases.

"The violations they are facing are typical of the sort of thing many visitors, when they are in trouble, face - although not often as serious as this.

"Of course there are complications for visitors who get into trouble. They don't know the law, there is the language barrier and this can lead to a lot of misunderstandings.

"But even if you stay in your home country, you have to be reasonable. Don't lose your head and nothing bad should happen."

'Awful English'

Mayor of Riga Nil Ushakov wants the city to rely less on stag parties and attract tourists from countries other than the UK.

"We do need to get the ratio of stag parties down, but we want to get this ratio down by attracting tourists from other countries and with other interests.

"The city has so much else to offer and we want people to come for that and less the beer."

Brigita Stroda, from the Latvian Tourism Agency, admitted the tension between the city and the stag parties was affecting wider tourism.

She said: "Unfortunately the impression created about the English and Englishmen is not very positive and there are people, Latvians, who ask why are the English so awful?

"We tell them, 'Of course they are not all awful, you are only seeing a tiny part' but people are now thinking of how to put off the stag parties.

"One way is to put up the prices of the hotels, but while this may deter the stags, it is unfair on all the other tourists."

But an apparent slump in stag parties - some bars are reporting a fall from three a day to one a fortnight - may have more to do with recession and an unfavourable exchange rate than any cultural initiatives from the Latvian authorities.

One partygoer who had still made the trip, Rob Smallwood, from London, said the case of David Birkinshaw and Matthew Neale had not put him off.

"We thought it was quite humorous because we heard about it after we had booked and we thought it was just our luck.

"But we are not louts. We are quite respectful of the local customs and people - but we don't expect to meet many because we are here to get drunk after all."