Paris’s Louvre Museum Welcomed 5.7 Million Visitors in 2003

The Louvre Museum of Paris, France, came in last year for 5.73 million visitors compared to 5.78 million who walked past the turnstiles in 2002. For the museum’s management, “these figures are welcome news amid a difficult situation marked by a tourist slowdown.”

The results are basically linked to the successful Leonardo da Vinci Exhibit last spring and an increase in the number of French visitors –especially youngsters- that offset the decline of foreign tourists. The extension of closing hours and the satisfaction of the general public were also key elements that contributed to bigger turnouts.

The year’s fourth quarter posted the best numbers with a 13.2 percent spike from the previous span of time, chiefly as a result of the White Night, a free-of-charge admission to the museum last October 4, and nightly openings for youngsters every Wednesday all through the month of November.

Over 1.9 million visitors had free access to the Louvre’s works of art in 2003, and more than half that amount was people under 18 years of age.

In the light of these upshots, the museum’s front office has decided to let people less than 26 years of age visit the Louvre freely every Monday from 6:00 pm on.

In a similar effort aimed at encouraging children’s turnout, accompanying teachers will be entitled to visit the museum free of charge for an entire year. Half a million schoolchildren visited the museum in 2003, while as many as 600,000 are expected to watch exhibits there in 2006.