The Louvre returns to its pre-Covid attendance with nearly 9 million visitors in 2023

With 8.9 million visitors in 2023, the Louvre Museum has regained attendance close to its 2019 level, before the health crisis, but remains deprived of its Asian visitors, it announced on Wednesday in a press release. “This attendance, up 14% compared to 2022 (7.8 million visitors), is close to the pre-pandemic level” of 2019 (9.6 million visitors), the museum told AFP.

The largest museum in the world, however, says it is "less counting on attendance records as in the past - in 2018 it welcomed 10.2 million visitors - having decided to maintain a daily gauge of 30,000 visitors" in order to ensure " better reception and visit conditions” for the public. “This daily gauge will be maintained during the Olympic Games (July 26-August 11)” despite the expected influx of visitors from around the world, the museum said.

In 2023, the Louvre welcomed 32% French visitors including 62% from Ile-de-France residents and 68% foreign visitors including 13% Americans and a number of Europeans from border countries (7% Italy, 5% United Kingdom and Germany, 4% Spain). 60% of visitors came to the Louvre for the first time in 2023 and 43% were under 26 years old while 40% benefited from the museum being free, which will increase its prices, with a ticket at 22 euros from the 15th. January. Asian visitors (Japan, Korea, China) only represented 2.5% of the public, whereas in 2018, Chinese visitors alone represented 8% of attendance. This defection is explained, according to tourism stakeholders and the French authorities, by a “very gradual resumption of air connections” with China as well as “difficulties in issuing visas”.

To improve the reception of the public, the Louvre remained open until 8 p.m. during the end-of-year holidays and plans to institute, in addition to its expanded cultural programming - integrating dance, theater or cinema - a second “nocturnal” visit from April every Wednesday in addition to that on Friday. Among the major projects of its president and director, Laurence des Cars, is also, in the longer term, the opening of a second entrance to the museum in order to “decongest” the main entrance located under the large glass pyramid, designed originally to welcome “four to five million visitors per year”, according to the Louvre.