Red Umbrellas Called “Scammers”? Why Prague City Tourism’s Banner Hurts Legit Licensed Guides
Prague City Tourism recently launched a campaign warning tourists to “avoid street scammers with red umbrellas.” While the message may have been well-intentioned, it unfairly targets licensed guides like us at Real Prague Guides, who use red umbrellas simply to help our guests find us at meeting points, not street promotion. This creates confusion among visitors, damages the reputation of registered businesses, and spreads misinformation about how legitimate Prague tours operate.
The Unfortunate Banner Breakdown
A prominent banner directs tourists to hire "official licensed guides" while advising them to "avoid street scammers with red umbrellas." According to Prague City Tourism representatives, this was meant to target allegedly unlawful promotions by bus tours that use red umbrellas at their Old Town Square spots, but it has ricocheted onto fully registered, tax-paying operators who do not mislead customers. The ad's wording lacks nuance, grouping legitimate guides with an entirely separate legal issue and raising questions about fact-checking by a city-funded body spending millions on marketing. It used to be even worse, though! The original banner implied that only Old Town Hall employees are licensed guides — a highly misleading and damaging statement that needed to be corrected.
What Makes a Guide "Official" in Prague
Let’s clarify what makes a guide in Prague legitimate. True official status comes from registration with the Czech Ministry of Regional Development, not from employment at the Old Town Hall. To become licensed, a guide must present documentation, complete the necessary paperwork, and submit the form at the ministry before receiving a license. Anyone can check the public online list by a guide’s full name on the ministry’s website; presence there confirms legality, with hefty fines for unlicensed work. Licensed guides also hold Czech National Tour Guide Cards (Degree I or II), issued by the ministry after verifying qualifications, and they are obliged to display them while working.
Licenses Explained
Guides can hold either a Silver or a Gold license. The Gold license is issued to those who hold a degree in history, tourism, or hospitality and have completed the Czech Republic guide course, while the Silver license is granted to others who meet all the required qualifications and paperwork. It used to be that the Prague Guide License was regarded as a mark of higher standing, but the Ministry of Regional Development no longer considers it sufficient. Changes in the law ended the standalone Prague license, requiring all guides to obtain the national Ministry cards. This has partly solved the issue of illegal, temporary guides who used to flood the city during the summer season to make quick money.
Inside Prague City Tourism's Operations
What Is Prague City Tourism?
Prague City Tourism is the largest tourist agency representing the Czech capital. Originally founded in the 1950s as the Prague Information Agency, it fulfilled the agenda of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, training guides in propaganda and encouraging positive narratives about the socialist regime. It was renamed Prague City Tourism fairly recently, making it one of the oldest originally communist-founded companies still active today. Interestingly, their website mentions this long history but does not elaborate on their activities during the communist era.
My Personal Experience
I worked for Prague City Tourism briefly but left due to low pay. From my experience, guides there act as “cash cows” compared to freelancers, where most earnings stay with the guide (minus platform fees and taxes). Another issue I faced was the limited number of shifts and their uneven distribution among staff, which made a stable income impossible. This showed that working for Prague City Tourism at that time was unsustainable for me, so I decided to start my own project.
Despite my mostly negative experience, I still believe Prague City Tourism contributes positively to the city’s tourism scene by educating new guides and maintaining historic monuments. However, as it has grown into a large commercial enterprise earning millions of crowns yearly and receiving substantial government funding, I find its attitude toward workers less personal than it could be.
History of Tensions and Misinformation
Prague City Tourism has long opposed free tours, which are their strongest competitors. Even some of my course instructors expressed an anti–free-tour bias, unaware that their students included free-tour guides. Some justified this by wrongly claiming that free-tour guides are uneducated — an unfair generalization — or illegal, which is outright false, since all guides must register with the Ministry of the Interior, as explained above. Another common misconception spread by non–free-tour guides is that we do not pay taxes, supposedly out of disrespect for Czech law. Perhaps those who say this are simply unaware of the law, because Czech regulations explicitly require declaring tips as income — disproving the myth that free-tour guides dodge paying taxes.
Some articles often claim that “no free tour is really free,” implying deception, but in reality, free-tour guides explain the tip-based model clearly. Ironically, Prague City Tourism uses the same marketing technique for promoting the Prague Visitor Pass, as shown in the picture. Prague Visitor Pass is a card that includes transportation and entrance tickets to sites, priced at around 2,600 CZK (over 100 EUR) per person, so stating it offers something for free is questionable.
Despite the persistent narrative, I believe these statements arise from misunderstanding rather than malice or deliberate deceit. After all, the Free Tour concept has proven far more popular among tourists.
Free Tours: What Tourists Actually Want
Tourists prefer free tours because they offer a low-risk experience — you pay after the tour based on its quality, and you can walk away without losing money if unsatisfied. We all know that a prepaid tour with a bad or boring guide can feel like a hostage situation. Of course, free tours also receive criticism for their group sizes, which in our case are usually around 25 to 30 people, sometimes fewer if it rains. At Real Prague Guides, we offer free tours alongside paid and private tours for clients who prefer a more personal experience.
What Street Promotion Is Actually Illegal in Prague?
Prague City Tourism's statements on street promotion have sparked debate. While directly offering services or products to passersby is indeed illegal (under Czech anti-tout laws), promoters can legally operate near official ticket distribution points. For instance, it's permitted to sell concert tickets right in front of venues or kiosks. By the same logic, promoters selling bus tour tickets at actual bus stops should be compliant.
However, some operate far from designated transport hubs, which raises eyebrows. They've devised a workaround: offering a newspaper or magazine that doubles as a "ticket," sidestepping police enforcement. Not the most straightforward approach, but it aligns with current regulations.
Free Tours Rely on Online Promotion
Street promotion for free walking tours in Prague is virtually nonexistent today—it proved ineffective compared to digital channels. Why pay reluctant employees when Google Ads guarantee customers? At Real Prague Guides and 100 Spires City Tours, we get all our clients online and use red umbrellas simply as meeting point markers (or for rain cover).
Prague's streets feature a rainbow of umbrellas, with every tour company choosing its signature color—repetitions are inevitable. Many operators use red umbrellas for tours, so we're hardly unique in this choice.
Don't Confuse Bus Promoters with Licensed Guides!
People outside the tourism industry often mistake bus tour promoters for legitimate licensed walking tour guides in Prague. Popular YouTuber Janek Rubeš from Honest Guide, for example, conflates the two in his videos—though we're certain it's an honest mistake!
This confusion harms Prague's walking tours and paid licensed guides, who never solicit on streets but meet pre-booked clients under color-coded umbrellas (like our red ones at Real Prague Guides).
WRITTEN BY VALERY
Licensed Prague guide and co-creator of Real Prague Guides (60K+ YouTube subscribers). My company, 100 Spires City Tours, leads some of the highest-rated tours in Prague.
📷 Instagram: @realpragueguides
📺 YouTube: Real Prague Guides
🎫 Book a tour: tours-prague.eu
Disclaimer: This article reflects the personal opinions of the author and is not intended to discourage visitors to Prague from businesses mentioned above.