Alerted by the worrying situation at the Louvre, the most visited museum in the world, the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, wants to increase the price of tickets for non-European visitors. The new rates should be implemented on January 1, 2026, she said.
“A worrying level of obsolescence”, “severe reality of the state of our overused buildings”, “damage”. In a confidential report dated January 13, 2025, the president of the Louvre Museum, Laurence de Cars, alerted the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, to the worrying state of the most visited and largest art museum in the world. world. In the note revealed by Le Parisien, the president notes, among other things, “worrying temperature variations endangering the conservation of the works”. Alerted by the situation, Rachida Dati wants to increase the price of tickets for non-European visitors. “We have to be innovative, including when it comes to financing”she declared this Thursday, January 23, to the press, as reported by BFMTV.
“The most beautiful museum in the world”
-According to the minister: “I wanted a differentiated pricing policy which will be implemented from January 1, 2026 and which will make it possible to finance this new museum project”she said. A way to generate new revenue for the museum which has 77% foreign visitors, 23% of whom are American and 6% Chinese, according to figures available on the Louvre website. According to the minister, however, it is not on the agenda to change free entry for residents of the European Economic Area aged 18 to 26, for visitors with disabilities, job seekers and beneficiaries of minimum social benefits. The new pricing policy desired by the minister should be implemented on January 1, 2026.
“Visiting and working conditions are not up to par with the Louvre”also declared the minister, “We’ve been putting off work for years and the more you put it off, the worse it gets.”. Also indicating the joint work carried out with Emmanuel Macron on the renovation of the Louvre, she concludes by explaining that “We have been working on this subject for months, the Louvre will remain the largest museum in the world and will become the most beautiful museum in the world”. The President of the Republic has indicated that he will go to the Louvre on Tuesday January 28 to give a speech.
