“Around 31 euros.” Jean-François Martins, president of the Eiffel Tower operating company. (Sete), announced Tuesday morning an upcoming increase in the ticket to visit the Parisian monument. The timetable for the implementation of the measure is not yet finalized but, according to Jean-François Martins, it will be “before or after the summer”, depending on the time “the negotiations will take”, he said. he explained on France Bleu Paris
This new tariff aims to “realign the economic model of the tower” after the Covid-19 years and the total interruption of tourism for several months. “Covid has made us lose around 250 million euros, it’s huge!” exclaims the president of Sete. To compensate for these losses, ticket prices will increase by around 20%.
Today, the Iron Lady is one of the most visited French monuments (more than 6 million entries in 2023) but also the most expensive. To reach the summit by elevator, it costs 29.40 euros. It is also possible to take the staircase option to the second floor then the elevator, in which case the price drops to 22.40 euros. For comparison, the entrance ticket to the Versailles estate (castle, Trianon estate and all the gardens) is set at 24 euros in low season and 34 euros from the end of March to the end of October. The Louvre has just increased its full price ticket from 17 to 22 euros. As for private tourist sites, the Grévin Museum offers tickets without reservation for the sum of 26.50 euros.
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Jean-François Martins also mentioned the wish of the Minister of Culture Rachida Dati to classify the Eiffel Tower as a historic monument. Unlike Anne Hidalgo, the president of Sete is not against the idea but expresses its limits. “On one condition, that we find the state of the Eiffel Tower of 1889, that is to say without cars around it,” he believes. When you classify a monument, you glaze the object and its surroundings. You’re barely allowed to move anything.” Seen from this angle, the project might not displease the mayor of Paris who wants to pedestrianize the Pont d’Iéna and create a promenade almost free of traffic from the Place du Trocadéro to the Ecole Militaire.