Louvre Paris limits visitor numbers

PARIS

Louvre Museum in Paris, the world's most visited cultural institution, will limit visitor numbers by up to a third to ensure a more "comfortable visit."

The cap is at 30,000 guests "in order to facilitate a comfortable visit and ensure optimal working conditions for museum staff," said a recent statement made by the museum.

Before the pandemic, Louvre welcomed up to 45,000 visitors a day. It enforced a 16-week closure during France's lockdowns, recording losses of more than 40 million euros at the time.

When it reopened, visitor numbers were down as people slowly returned to normal activities and international travel restrictions gradually lifted. The decision to limit daily visitor numbers was quietly made in June and has now been officially written into its public guidelines.

This follows the appointment of Laurence des Cars as its new president-director, taking over from September.

“The extremely positive figures for 2022 are tremendously encouraging for all our staff," des Cars said. "I hope that visitors enjoy spending time at the Musee du Louvre, particularly those discovering the museum for the first time, who represent 60 per cent of them.

"We are working ever harder to improve visiting conditions and to continue to offer a program of great quality and a unique array of live performances resonating with what’s on at the museum.”

If it reaches full capacity each day it's open - it closes every Tuesday and on three public holidays - then the maximum number of visitors the museum can reach this year is 9.3 million, still 300,000 fewer than 2019.