Ticket prices for the Louvre in Paris will rise by 45 percent for most visitors from outside the European Union, the museum’s board of directors has decided.
From the beginning of next year, tourists from countries such as the United States of America, Great Britain and China will have to pay 32 euros to enter the museum, which is a price increase that should bring in millions of euros annually for the restoration of the famous gallery, writes the BBC.
The museum’s security and management have come under fire after a robbery in October, when four people stole $102 million worth of jewelry and fled within minutes.
An official audit of the museum released shortly after the robbery highlighted deficiencies in security systems and outdated infrastructure. From January 14, visitors from outside the European Economic Area, a group that includes EU members Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein, will pay an extra €10 to enter the world’s most visited museum.
Last year, the Louvre received almost 9 million visitors, most of whom came from abroad. More than a dozen visitors come from the US, and about 6 percent from China, according to museum data.
In January, French President Emmanuel Macron and the Louvre announced improvements to the museum and proposed higher prices for non-EU visitors from 2026. Macron also said the Mona Lisa would be moved to a new space to reduce overcrowding.
Most of the 30,000 daily visitors to the Louvre come to see Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece. Crowds squeeze through the Salle des États, the gallery where the Mona Lisa is displayed, giving each visitor only a few moments to look at the painting and take a photo.
The Louvre will also renovate other parts of the museum and add new facilities such as toilets and restaurants, upgrades estimated at several hundred million euros.
Earlier this month, the Louvre announced the closure of a gallery displaying Greek ceramics due to structural problems.
An investigation after the October robbery showed that the museum spent significantly more on buying new works of art, and much less on maintenance and restoration.
(Vijesti.ba / FENA)
