The world’s most famous museum, the Louvre – which houses the Mona Lisa – is the most visited museum in the world. But its success has been its undoing, as the Louvre admits overcrowding has become a huge problem.
In response to a surge of tourists visiting the French capital this summer, the museum has urged visitors to book tickets in advance online. It has said that making reservations will be mandatory for all tourists by the end of the year.
The Louvre’s overcrowding problem was exacerbated this summer after a heatwave that sent droves of tourists inside museums to stave off the heat. The Louvre had also temporarily moved Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘The Mona Lisa’ to another room for refurbishments – which added to the confusion.
“Reservations smooth the entry for the public throughout the week,” said Vincent Pomarede, the deputy general administrator of the Louvre.”
“Until now a reservation system has not been obligatory (but) we will put in place an obligatory reservations system, as many other museums have done, and, by the end of the year, all visitors will have to reserve,” he said.
According to Pomarede, the system will help the museum handle the number of visitors during its busiest periods, “It will be from October or November. We have accelerated what we wanted to put in place at the start of the year 2020.”
