The major Parisian museums and tourist sites have managed to maintain their attendance in 2024, or even improve it, despite the drop in the number of visitors linked to the Paris Games during the summer, like the Louvre which is approaching the 9 million entries.
The largest museum in the world “maintains (…) its attendance at the level of 2023”, with 8.7 million visitors compared to 8.9 million in 2023, “in the very unique context of the Olympic and Paralympic Games” , he underlined Monday in a press release.
In July and August, a period which included part of the Games, it welcomed 1.3 million visitors, a drop of 14% over one year. The Louvre had to close on July 25 and 26, for the Olympics ceremony.
However, this sporting event “gave the Louvre worldwide visibility”, partly due to the installation on the Tuileries estate of the Olympic cauldron which attracted thousands of spectators every day, the museum underlined, highlighting “good figures all late in the season”.
Last year, the Louvre welcomed 77% foreign visitors, including 13% Americans and many Europeans (5% Italians, as many British and Germans, 4% Spaniards).
– Gradual return of the Chinese public –
“Chinese visitors (6% compared to 2.4% in 2023) are beginning to make a significant return,” the museum also noted.
With 8.4 million visitors, the Palace of Versailles and its grounds also experienced a “temporary drop” in attendance during the Games but reached at the end of the year “figures slightly higher than those of 2023 and an increase of 2% compared to 2019, level before the Covid-19 crisis”, shows included, underlined the establishment in a press release.
Americans remain the first foreign visitors represented with 15% of entries, down slightly compared to 2023 (18%), and the Chinese are gradually returning (6% compared to 4%) after a prolonged post-Covid absence (13% in 2019). ), he said.
Other museums popular with tourists: Orsay and the Orangerie welcomed 4.9 million visitors in 2024, compared to 5.07 million the previous year, according to the public establishment at their head.
Overall attendance “only fell by 3% compared to 2023, a year of record attendance,” he added.
“Summer attendance was down during the JOP (-26% at the Musée d'Orsay compared to 2023, -22% at the Musée de l'Orangerie)”, specified the establishment, noting however that “the public welcomed ( …) during this period was younger than usual”.
– Major exhibitions –
2024 was notably “marked by the success of temporary exhibitions”, in particular “Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise. The last months”, with 794,000 visitors, the “best exhibition attendance since the opening of the museum” .
For its part, the Center Pompidou, which must close its doors to the public in September 2025 for at least five years of asbestos removal and renovation work, welcomed attendance up 22% compared to 2023, with 3.2 million visitors.
If the large museum of modern art also experienced a reduction in visits in July and August, the very general public programming, with a Brancusi retrospective and the “Surrealism” or “Comics on all floors” exhibitions, attracted many visitors, including “one million” for the latter between May and November, he told AFP.
The historic sites managed by the Center of National Monuments (CMN) welcomed 11 million visitors in 2024, with a drop in attendance during the Olympic period, but a “renewed attractiveness” on the sites directly affected by the passing of the Olympic flame or highlighted during the Games, like the Conciergerie (+40% from October to December over one year).
Paris Musées, which manages around fifteen museums in the City of Paris, for its part recorded 4.8 million visitors in 2024, down 8.5% compared to 2023. A decrease that is “relatively small compared to the period of the Games” (-30% over this period over one year), he underlines in a press release.
With 1.4 million visitors, the Petit-Palais for its part recorded a “record attendance since its reopening in 2005 and an increase of 22.8% compared to 2023”, he indicated.
With 1.2 million visitors, the Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac museum announces “sustained attendance despite the impact of the Games” in Paris and “stable, compared to previous years”.
