Why the Louvre charges foreign visitors more

HostIt feels like everything about travel is getting more expensive these days, from the flights to the hotel rooms. But now, there's a big talk in France about changing the price of the most famous art house in the world just for people visiting from far away. Why are the people in charge looking at tourists to pick up the bill, and what does this mean for the next time we want to see the Mona Lisa?

GuestThe idea comes from the person in charge of culture in France. Right now, if you want to walk into the Louvre, it costs twenty-two euros. It doesn't matter if you live down the street in Paris or if you flew in from a different part of the world. Everyone pays the same rate. But the new plan would change that. People who come from countries outside the European Union would've to pay more. We're talking about maybe twenty-five or even thirty euros for a ticket. The big goal here isn't just to make the museum more money for the sake of it. The leaders say it's about saving the rest of the history in the country.

HostBut the Louvre is already the most visited place on earth. I don't see why they need even more cash from people who traveled across the globe to get there.

GuestIt's less about the big museum itself and more about everything else. France has thousands of very old buildings, like tiny churches in small towns and old stone bridges, that are literally falling apart. These places don't get millions of visitors a year, so they don't have any money to fix the roof or keep the walls from crumbling. The plan is to take that extra money from the tourists at the big spots and put it into a special fund. That money would then pay for the upkeep of all those quiet, old spots across the French countryside. They see it as a way for the people who come to see the great art to help save the soul of the rest of the country.

HostThat sounds like a tough sell for someone who just spent a lot of money on a plane ticket. Why should a visitor from a place like Australia have to pay to fix a roof on a church they'll never even see?

GuestThat's the big point people are arguing about. It can feel like a bit of a double standard. But the way they look at it's that the people who live in France and the rest of Europe already pay for these things through their taxes. When a local goes to a museum, they have already chipped in for the roads and the building itself through their work every day. A visitor from another part of the world enjoys all that history but has never paid into the system that keeps it standing. So, the extra five or ten euros is seen as a fair share for the upkeep of the whole culture. Plus, France isn't the first place to think this way. In other parts of the world, like at the pyramids in Egypt, locals pay a very small fee while people from other lands pay a lot more. It's a way for a country to protect its own treasures without putting the whole bill on its own people.

HostBut France is in that big club of European countries. Is it even legal to pick and choose who pays what based on where they're from?

GuestThat's where it gets tricky. In that group of countries, there are very strict rules about not treating people differently based on which member land they come from. If you're from Spain or Germany, the law says you have to be treated just like a person from France. So, the leaders can't charge a German more than a Frenchman. That's why the plan specifically targets people from outside that club. They're looking at visitors from the U.S. or China who aren't part of those specific deals and laws. By drawing the line around the whole group of European countries instead of just France, they think they can stay on the right side of the law while still bringing in a lot of new money.

HostI still wonder if this might backfire. If you make it feel like tourists are just a group of people to be squeezed for cash, they might just stop coming, or at least feel like they're not wanted.

GuestThere's always that risk. If a family of four from far away has to pay an extra forty dollars just to get in the door, they might skip it and go get a nice lunch instead. But the people pushing this plan think the Louvre is such a big draw that people will pay a bit more to see it. They see it as a top spot. If you want the best, you pay a bit more. And they really do need the money. There are reports that thousands of those small churches are in such bad shape that they might have to be torn down if they don't get help soon. They're betting that tourists will understand that their extra few euros are going to a good cause to keep history alive.

HostSo it's a choice between a cheaper ticket for a tourist or losing a piece of the past forever.

GuestIt really comes down to how we value these old stones and if we think the cost should fall on the people who live there or the people who come to visit.

HostThe price of the ticket might go up, but the goal is to keep those old church doors open for everyone.