The Louvre Museum Paris, world’s largest museum is home to over 33,000 artworks
The Louvre Museum Paris, world’s largest museum that is home to over 33,000 artworks, including the Mona Lisa, says that with effect from January 15, 2024, the ticket price will rise from the current EUR 17 to EUR 22.
According to a press statement by Louvre Museum, the nearly 30 pc price rise is expected to help offset rising energy costs and also to pay towards a free ticket programme aimed toward local French residents.
The statement says that the price hike will go into effect six months before the start of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Though the announcement did not mention the games, the city is expected to host over 10 million people for the Olympics, which will take place from July 20 to September 8.
According to the statement, in order to cope with increased demand for goods and services during the games, many organisations in Paris are raising their prices. The price of a ticket on the Paris metro will nearly double from EUR 2.1 to EUR 4, though the move has received backlash from city officials. As per a report by the Paris Tourism Office, hotel prices are expected to rise by 300 pc from summer 2023 to summer 2024.
President of the Louvre Museum Laurence des Cars said that the price hikes were part of a bigger project designed to make the museum more appealing to Parisians, who were sometimes dissuaded from visiting the museum by the large crowds of tourists. In order to curb rush of tourists and to bring the locals back in, this year Louvre has capped the number of daily visitors at 30,000, a decrease from the 45,000 allowed before the pandemic as an attempt to bring in more locals to the museum.
More than half of French visitors don’t pay for their tickets to the Louvre because they are children, EU residents under the age of 26, or members of certain professions, adds the press statement.
