France: collapse in attendance at major museums because of the Covid

Tourists near the Louvre pyramid in Paris, August 6, 2020. REUTERS / Gonzalo Fuentes

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In France, the figures have fallen, the drop in attendance at major museums this summer is vertiginous.

Obviously, the travel restrictions imposed on foreign tourists because of the coronavirus are involved.

A collapse that has enormous financial consequences, especially after more than two months of closure due to confinement.

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Face-to-face with the Mona Lisa.

Anyone who has had the chance to visit the Louvre in Paris this summer will tell you: the atmosphere was almost intimate with the mysterious lady of Leonardo da Vinci, far from the waves of usual visitors.

Unfortunately for the institution's finances, the figures confirm it, there were 75% fewer visitors in July-August this year compared to 2019, at the Louvre.

Same drop in attendance at Versailles: - 80%.

This decrease corresponds exactly to the proportion of foreign visitors prevented from traveling: Japanese, Americans, Koreans, Russians, etc.

To avoid a total collapse of their ticket office, Parisian museums had bet on an audience from Ile de France: young people, families deprived of vacation.

An opening strategy which has borne fruit, but has proved insufficient to replenish the funds.

The Louvre will have to ask for additional aid from the state.

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Also to listen: In the absence of foreign tourists, the French rediscover the Musée d'Orsay

In France, the historic sites and monuments that are doing well are located in the provinces, on the Atlantic, or in rural areas, where tourists have flocked this summer in search of nature after two months of confinement.

Special mention to open-air archaeological sites where physical distancing is easier to respect.

Cro-Magnon's revenge on modern art, in a way.

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