Russian museums admitted that they will increase ticket prices following the Louvre

Around the world, the cost of visiting a museum increases by 20-30%

The other day, the Louvre announced that in January the cost of visiting the museum will increase from 17 euros to 22, that is, by almost 30%. According to the administration, this is due to rising electricity prices: in order to maintain a comfortable temperature in the exhibition halls and discounts for preferential categories, the museum is forced to raise prices. However, in France, on the eve of the Olympic Games, prices for everything increased, so it’s clearly not just about electricity. In addition, US museums have already realized the prices for admission by 20%. The Louvre follows the global trend rather than sets a trend. The director of the Hermitage, Mikhail Piotrovsky, admitted that ticket prices in his domain will most likely increase, although he is trying to delay this moment.

The Louvre has not increased ticket prices for eight years. And now he insisted that the measure was necessary: ​​the funds were needed to maintain the museum. However, it is not only this French museum that has raised the cost of entry. A visit to Versailles next year will cost not 19.5 euros, as it does now, but 21. The example of these popular museums in Paris, apparently, will be followed by others, because in August 2024 France is hosting the Olympic Games, is waiting for tourists and is going to make money on sports event. Subway fares, for example, will double to 4 euros.

And American museums have already increased the cost of museum tickets. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, for example, raised prices back in 2022 – from $25 to $30 (for adults). In July 2023, the Whitney Museum of American Art, located in Manhattan, increased ticket prices to $30 for adults and $25 for students and seniors. Before that, the museum had kept the price since 2016. The Guggenheim Museum followed its colleagues in August – there, too, the ticket price increased to 30 dollars instead of the previous 25. That is, in the USA, the most popular sites raised prices by about 20%.

Russia, apparently, will have to follow the global trend, said Piotrovsky, who is not only the director of the Hermitage, but the head of the Union of Museums of the Russian Federation, in a recent interview.

“Personally, I don’t plan (to raise ticket prices). But my financial services require it. Compare our prices with the cost of tickets to other museums. It’s a total disaster in the USA, where museum tickets cost at least $30, and even the once free Metropolitan is no longer free. The prices for leading Russian museums are also higher. Therefore, it is economically wrong for us to maintain current prices. As long as we can stand it. But, apparently, after some time we will have to raise prices, even despite the coming stream of dirt on social networks,” Piotrovsky said.

A ticket to the Hermitage currently costs 500 rubles. A visit to the Pushkin Museum will cost 650 rubles (for adults under 60 years old) and 450 rubles for seniors. But soon the bar will rise by 100 rubles. There is already a noticeable increase in prices in the Tretyakov Gallery. A visit to the Nicholas Roerich exhibition, for example, will cost 900 rubles for adults, 540 for students and pensioners and 450 for children from 7 to 17 years old. A general ticket to all buildings is 1000 rubles, separately to Lavrushinsky – 700 rubles. That is, in Russia the general increase in prices is also approximately 20%. However, compared to foreign museums, our prices are half as high, but salaries and the general standard of living are also lower.