The 29 percent price increase arrives ahead of the Summer Olympics and the Summer Paralympics, which the city is hosting from July 26 to August 11, and from August 28 and September 8, 2024, respectively. The upward adjustment at the world’s most popular museum reflects surging prices across Paris ahead of the events, which together are expected to draw some 10 million visitors to the City of Light. Tourists will be greeted by hotel prices more than triple the usual rate in some cases, while the city is working to boost the cost of a ride on the Metro from €2.10 to €4 (roughly $4.30) for the duration of the games. The latter planned increase is an about-face from the French National Olympic and Sports Committee’s initial scheme to make public transportation free for games ticketholders, as was done in London in 2012.

The price hike additionally reflects the plan of Louvre director Laurence des Cars to reshape the museum to make it more welcoming to locals. Her other efforts in this direction have so far included capping the daily flow of visitors at 30,000, down from a 2019 high of 45,000, and plans to create a new entrance to lessen the crush around the museum’s iconic I. M. Pei–designed glass-and-steel entrance. The increased admission cost will largely affect tourists, who account for the lion’s share of visitors to the institution. Many French guests, who make up about 30 percent of Louvre visitors, are and will continue to be admitted free of charge. Among these are those under eighteen, EU residents between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five, those who are disabled or looking for work, and members of certain professional groups, such as teachers working in France.