Danger: pub crawls

Backpacker pub crawls in Australia are more subdued than their European counterparts because of much stricter security measures at hotels in this country...

That is the view of Rick Schindler, the managing director of Sydney firm Route 69, which guides more than 20,000 overseas backpackers around the city's nightlife on its bus tours each year.

His comments follow the death on Wednesday of 20-year-old Queensland tourist Jason Scorer in Rome. Mr Scorer's body was found in the Tiber River in the city's Trastevere district after apparently falling from a bridge in the aftermath of a night out with about 80 other tourists on the Spanish Steps Pub Crawl group.

The tour organiser in Rome, Dimiter Tzonev, told brisbanetimes.com.au yesterday that Mr Scorer had been "very, very drunk" and had earlier been walking on the edge of another bridge.

Mr Schindler said strict security governing the entry of intoxicated patrons to hotels in Australia meant similar tours were more controlled and less likely to have tragic consequences.

"We do get some complaints that it's not as much fun as in Europe but that's because we have to run a much tighter ship over here," he said.

"If you were allowed to get away with a lot more they would. But with the security on the buses and at the hotels, you can't get away with it in Australia."

He said his company, which runs party buses for backpackers in Sydney, gave "aeroplane speeches" before beginning their tours and had special provisions for tourists considered too drunk to enter one of the Bars they stop at.

"At each bar security will look at the people and if they feel they're too intoxicated we have a `sin-bin', where we put them back in the bus," Mr Schindler said.

"The drivers stay with them and if they feel right they're allowed to try and go into the next pub."

Speaking from Italy Mr Tzonev bemoaned the fact that Mr Scorer's death would be linked to his pub crawl, which operates in what he called "one of the safest cities in the world".

"It's linked with us. We get the people drunk. (But) the thing is, these people, they drink everywhere," he said.

"When we finish ... at the last place we tell them where they are. Usually we finish in the Centre (of the city).

"From then on people are on their own, they can do what they want.

"We make sure they know the nearest bus stop to go to or train station."

He said he was devastated by the 20-year-old's death, which he described as a "the worst coincidence that could happen".

"It's pretty devastating. We've never had a death on our party, and I've been running this for five and a half years," Mr Tzonev said.

Sadly, Mr Scorer is not the first young Australian to lose their life overseas while under the influence of alcohol.

Earlier this year, the body of Brisbane skier Scott McKay was found in a creek two months after he went missing in the Japanese ski resort of Niseko. He was last seen alive leaving a bar in sub-zero temperatures.

The former Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, now the United Nations Special Envoy to Cyprus, in May called for Australian tourists to "learn to take responsibility for your own behaviour".

Source: www.theage.com.au