Is Louvre ticket price increase for non-Europeans ‘unabashed nationalism’?
Debate about so-called ‘dual pricing’ is raging as France hikes prices for non-Europeans visiting the Louvre by 45 per cent this week
Should foreign tourists pay more for state-funded galleries than locals, or should art be accessible to all without discrimination?
France is hiking prices for non-Europeans at the Louvre this week, provoking debate about so-called “dual pricing”.
From January 14, any adult visitor from outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway will have to pay €32 (US$37) to enter the Louvre – a 45 per cent increase – while the Palace of Versailles will up its prices by three euros.
Americans, UK citizens and Chinese nationals, who are some of the museum’s most numerous foreign visitors, will be among those affected, as will tourists from poorer countries.
The French move has few precedents elsewhere in Europe, but is more common in developing countries, where tariffs at sites such as Machu Picchu in Peru or the Taj Mahal in India vary.