The Louvre, one of the world’s most visited museums, has decided to increase ticket prices for visitors from countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA), marking a change in the historic Parisian institution’s pricing policy. The decision, approved Thursday by the museum’s board of trustees, calls for a 45 percent increase for foreign tourists, a measure motivated by the need to raise funds to be used for infrastructure upgrades and strengthening security, which has already been put under pressure by recent events. Starting Jan. 14, non-EU visitors will pay 32 euros to enter the museum, up from the previous 22 euros. The increase will affect, among others, U.S., British, and Russian citizens who are not part of the EEA, which consists of EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. Currently, about a quarter of the Louvre’s visitors come from France, while the majority come from around the world, with considerable numbers from the United States, China and other European countries. In 2024, the museum recorded a total of 8.7 million admissions, 77 percent of which were from foreigners. The new fee system for non-EU tourists recalls some practices already found in other major international institutions. In the United States, for example, museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York charge fees of about $30 for visitors from outside the city. Similarly, starting Jan. 1, foreign tourists visiting major U.S. national parks will face an additional $100 entrance fee.
The Louvre’s decision has not been without criticism. CFDT-Culture, a French union that represents a portion of the museum’s workers, called the measure absurd and unfair, pointing out in fact that people from the Middle East will pay a higher price to access works that are fundamental and symbolic of their culture than French citizens. Similar attention is being paid to the possible repercussions on other French cultural institutions: the Palace of Versailles and the Château de Chambord may adopt similar policies in the coming months.
The ticket increase follows closely on the heels of an incident that deeply affected the Paris institution and international public opinion. On Sunday, Oct. 19, at around 9:30 a.m., the museum was the scene of a daring jewelry theft in the Apollo Gallery. Thieves, using a lift basket and an angle grinder, snatched nine pieces of jewelry estimated at $102 million in less than eight minutes. Among the stolen jewelry, a crown that belonged to Empress Eugenie was recovered near the museum and underwent conservation work. During a hearing before the French Senate, Louvre director Laurence des Cars confirmed that the alarms worked properly during the theft, but admitted that the museum’s security systems are currently inadequate and outdated. The Louvre has implemented a number of emergency security measures, but according to a French national audit, the recommended interventions are not expected to be fully implemented until 2032. Among the initiatives already planned, theinstallation of some 100 surveillance cameras and anti-intrusion systems is the first step toward a comprehensive upgrade in the protection of the works. In parallel, the most valuable jewels have been transferred to the Bank of France to ensure their safekeeping.
The investigation into the theft continues. After the first four people were arrested and charged, police have charged a fifth suspect. One of the suspects was stopped at Charles de Gaulle Airport while attempting to leave France for Algeria on a one-way flight. Another group of two, domestic partners with two children, saw the woman released under judicial supervision. All suspects are local citizens. The event reinforced the urgency to modernize the museum’s security and infrastructure, a decision that found in the new fare increases a concrete measure of economic support. The decision to burden the increase only on foreign tourists thus appears to be linked both to the fundraising strategy and to the management of the international influx, in view of the prevalence of non-EU visitors compared to the French public.
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| Louvre increases tickets by 45% for non-EU visitors |
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