Security-weakened Paris Louvre hikes prices for tourists to fund renovations

The Louvre in Paris is raising ticket prices for non-European Union tourists to help finance renovations of the museum, whose deteriorating state was laid bare by the theft of crown jewels last month.

Visitors from outside the EU will have to pay 32 euros ($37) from January 14, a 45 per cent rise, a spokesperson said on Friday. Britons will have to pay the higher rate as the UK is outside the EU since Brexit.

Four burglars made off in daylight with jewels worth $102 million on October 19, exposing glaring security gaps at the world's most visited museum. In November, structural weaknesses prompted the partial closure of one of its wings.

The museum's administration, urged by France's state auditor to prioritise security over acquisitions, said last week it would install 100 external cameras by the end of 2026 while pressing on with a six-year renovation project.

The measure was announced by French President Emmanuel Macron earlier this year and has now been approved by the Louvre governing board.

Earlier this month, Louvre director Laurence des Cars announced more than 20 emergency measures have started being implemented following the robbery. She said the Louvre’s latest overhaul in the 1980s is now technically obsolete.

The cost for the so-called "Louvre New Renaissance” plan is estimated at up to 800 million euros ($933 million) to modernize infrastructure, ease crowding and give the famed Mona Lisa a dedicated gallery by 2031.

Nearly 9 million visitors passed through the museum's doors last year, almost three-quarters of them foreign. The price increase is expected to bring in an extra 15-20 million euros a year. Top nationalities include people from the US (13%), China (6%) and Britain (5%) who are affected by the price hikes.

The Louvre in Paris has been robbed by several criminals who smashed windows and stole jewellery. EPA This emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon gave to his wife, Empress Marie Louise, was taken.