Non-European Union (E.U.) visitors to the Louvre Museum in Paris will be charged 45 percent more than Europeans for entry from Wednesday in a bid to raise money for renovations at the beleaguered French landmark.
Staff will now check visitors’ identity papers to determine fees before admission under the new financial impost at the world’s single most popular museum for fine arts. It received 9.0 million visitors in 2025 alone.
The museum said the price hike will go from from 22 euros ($26) to 32 euros ($37) for non-Europeans.
AFP reports the move is one of the boldest adoptions in Europe of so-called “dual pricing” at museums — charging foreign visitors different prices depending on their origins.
The practice is common in many developing countries. Until now was largely absent in Europe and has been criticised for being discriminatory and reducing access for some low-income foreign visitors to the home of the Mona Lisa that was in the news last year after a massive daylight heist of jewels, as Breitbart News reported.
Foreign visitors to France can also be expected to have their identities checked at other popular destinations including the Versailles Palace, Chambord Palace in the Loire region and the national opera house in Paris, AFP notes.
The national left-wing government under President Emmanuel Macron has justified the increases on financial grounds, saying the change at the Louvre alone would raise 20-30 million euros annually for the museum which needs repairs and suffered a major robbery last October.
Trade unions at the Louvre have denounced the policy as “shocking philosophically, socially and on a human level” and have cited the change among complaints that have sparked recent strike action.
The Louvre Museum consistently ranks as the world’s most visited art museum, attracting millions of visitors annually with its vast collection, including the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace.
It remains free for minors from all countries and Europeans under 26.
AFP contributed to this report
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