The strategy of the Louvre Museum in Paris to increase ticket prices for visitors from outside the European Union was copied by other museums and tourist attractions in France with the aim of balancing the books.
The Louvre, the largest museum in the world, announced on Thursday a 45% increase in tickets for tourists who are not from the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway, From January 1, 2026, they will pay 32 euros, that is, ten euros more.
The 45% increase in tickets is expected to affect around 2.2 of the more than 8 million annual visitors who visit the Louvre.
A report published by the French newspaper Le Monde, and cited by the Efe news agency, indicates that With this ‘tactic’, the Louvre intends to increase its revenue by 20 million euros.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced a few months ago that the public subsidy for the Louvre would be reduced by 7.3%, to 87.4 milliondespite the museum intending to move forward with major renovations.
The strategy of increasing Louvre tickets for citizens outside the European Union will also be replicated for visits to the Palace of Versailles, which will cost 35 euros in high season, that is, three euros more than for Europeans.
With these new tariffs, which will come into force in mid-January, Versailles intends to increase its revenues by 9.2 million euros.
The largest and most visited of the Loire castles, Chambord, has also joined the trend of charging specific rates for visitors from outside Europe. The ticket will increase by 10 euros, rising to 31 euros, remaining at 21 euros for anyone coming from one of the 27 countries of the European Union (EU), Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway.
With this increase, it should raise an additional 500 thousand euros, as only 10% of its visitors come from outside the EU.
From next year, the famous Gothic Sainte-Chapelle chapel will cost visitors from outside the EU 22 euros, six euros more than the rest.
Some unions consider the forecast of additional revenue to be exaggerated and predict increased competition between museums. Instead of visiting several, tourists will focus on one or two, so in the end they won’t spend more.
The Ministry of Culture, on the other hand, defends the initiative and guarantees that prices continue to be in line with those of other museums around the world. As an example, the Metropolitan in New York (USA) costs 30 dollars (about 25.5 euros).
The ministry states that many tourist sites in the world already charge a higher price to foreigners, such as the Taj Mahal or the Forbidden City in Beijing. Others, like Machu Pichu, in Peru, do so to limit the number of visitors, whose constant increase threatens their survival.