Closed since the end of October, the Palace of Versailles is facing a drop in its ticket office.
Guest of "La France bouge" on Europe 1, Friday noon, the director of the establishment, Catherine Pégard, excludes uniformly increasing the price of the ticket, but is considering adaptations of the price according to the visits.
INTERVIEW
It is the fourth most visited tourist site in France and, like other sites such as Disneyland Paris or Mont Saint-Michel, it must remain closed due to the coronavirus: the Palace of Versailles has been suffering for ten months now. restrictions linked to the health crisis.
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La France bouge
, live from the Versailles establishment, the director Catherine Pégard noted a considerable drop in revenue, which leads the castle to reflect on its viability once the visitors return.
An increase in the base rate?
"Indecent"
First, the director of the castle assures that the unit price of the ticket will not increase as soon as the gates are reopened: "It would be quite indecent to speak of an increase in the ticket. The Palace of Versailles is not a lonely island in economic life. of France. Today, many people have enormous difficulties and to speak about increasing the price of the ticket seems rather difficult to me, defends the former journalist and adviser of Nicolas Sarkozy.
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Today, not much is done to compensate for the losses
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However, the price of some visits could increase: the management of the establishment wants to "try to adapt (its) visits, to ensure that there are visits that are offered at a higher price because that the offer will be larger. We are already starting to think about it ", assures Catherine Pégard, in office since August 2011. The offer of the castle will be enriched in particular by the works exhibited in the attics of the castle, on the second floor, that Europe 1 was able to visit in preview.
Insufficient aid?
On the other hand, the Palace of Versailles has no other choice but to take its trouble patiently and seek state aid to compensate for the losses, while the ticket office of the 7 million annual visitors represents about two thirds of its recipes.
"Today, we do not do much to compensate. We are lucky that the State supports us and that it wanted to include us in this plan to revive the national economy."
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The Palace of Versailles thus received 10 million euros from the State in 2020, as well as an envelope of 87 million euros granted under the stimulus plan in 2021 and 2022. These colossal sums, will they be sufficient?
"To this day, I can't tell," sighs the headmistress.
"Unfortunately, we say to ourselves that we will find the same discussion with the government next spring."