In 2021, the Louvre has not recovered its level of visitors before the health crisis. American and Asian tourists were once more sorely lacking this year.
The Louvre museum saw its attendance suffer once more in 2021, posting a decline of 70% compared to 2019 despite a clear recovery at the end of the year, he announced on Wednesday.
The largest museum in the world, closed from January 1 to May 19, 2021 due to the health crisis, welcomed 2.8 million visitors, 100,000 more than in 2020.
In 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic, 9.6 million people visited it in Paris, the absolute record dating from 2018 (10.2 million).
Loss of revenue
Consequently, ticketing-related revenues last year fell by 80 million euros compared to 2019. Over the year 2021, the State paid 110 million euros, including 70 million for compensation for lost revenue and 40 million via the recovery plan. An additional 6 million euros is planned for 2022, said the museum.
Open for 194 days instead of 310 last year, the museum welcomed more visitors in October and November 2021 than during the whole summer.
As in 2020, they were mainly French (61%), with a majority coming from Île-de-France (61%), including 28% from Parisians.
Asian and American tourists “almost absent”
On the other hand, Asian and American tourists were “almost absent”.
The latter represented 6.2% of visitors, followed in particular by those from Germany (6%), Italy (4.4%), Spain (4%), the Netherlands (3.2 %), the United Kingdom (2.1%) and Belgium (2.1%).
The under-18s also made up 20% of the Louvre’s public. Just over a quarter (28%) of visitors were 18-25 year olds from the European Union.
