Explained: Strike at Louvre Museum & growing menace of overtourism

Indian Express

18-06-2025

On Monday morning, tourists eager for a glimpse of the Mona Lisa found themselves locked out of the world's most-visited museum. Lines stretched beyond the Louvre's iconic glass pyramid, only to be met with shuttered doors. Staffers refused to resume their duties to protest against frustrating working conditions and overcrowding.
A message on the Louvre's official website read, 'Due to strikes in France, the museum may open later and some exhibition rooms may remain closed. We thank you for your understanding.' The museum, which remains closed on Tuesdays, is expected to return to normalcy as it reopens on Wednesday. News agency AP reported that visitors with passes from Monday may be allowed to reuse them.
The Louvre, a symbol of France's cultural prestige, is cracking under the weight of its own popularity. And it's not alone. From the cobbled streets of Venice to the sacred slopes of Mount Fuji, tourist hotspots around the world are reaching a breaking point.
Crumbling infrastructure at the Louvre Museum
A spokesperson of a workers' union told AP that the strike was led by front-house staff, including reception agents, gallery attendants and security workers. The workers expressed 'mass exasperation' at a scheduled monthly information session, which eventually led to the strike as workers waited to speak to the management.
'Overcrowding and understaffing are the main issues being raised,' the spokesperson said.
The Louvre Museum, which houses one of the most celebrated artworks, the Mona Lisa, welcomed nearly 9 million visitors in 2024 and 2023. The figure is twice the number of annual visitors that the glass pyramid entrance was meant to cater to when it was installed in 1989. At its peak in 2018, the Louvre had 10.2 million visitors. While the tourist volume was impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2021, the visitor count reached 7.8 million in 2022, once restrictions were lifted. In June that year, the museum capped the number of daily admissions to 30,000 to 'facilitate a comfortable visit and ensure optimal working conditions for museum staff'.
And in 2023, the museum hiked the base ticket price by 29 per cent to meet higher energy costs and fund free entry for certain visitors.
The museum's infrastructure, however, continued to crumble under the overwhelming number of visitors. A leaked memo from the Louvre Director Laurence des Cars to the culture minister, in January 2025, detailed the 'very poor condition' of the centuries-old museum. In the memo, accessed by French daily Le Parisien, des Cars writes: 'Visiting the Louvre is a physical ordeal; accessing the artworks takes time and is not always easy. Visitors have no space to take a break. The food options and restroom facilities are insufficient in volume, falling below international standards. The signage needs to be completely redesigned.'
des Cars warned of water leaks and temperature variations, which threaten the preservation of the museum's artworks, and also cited problems with the glass pyramid entrance, which becomes 'inhospitable' on hot days due to the greenhouse effect.
Shortly afterwards, French President Emmanuel Macron promised a major overhaul of the Louvre Museum to accommodate the growing crowds. This would include a new entrance, to be opened by 2031, and a separate room for Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, which alone attracts around 20,000 daily visitors. Notably, the French government is responsible for half of the Louvre's budget, including salaries of its 2,200 employees, according to an AP report. The other half is funded by ticket and in-museum sales, as well as private patrons and partners.
Protests all over Europe, the world
The Louvre strike was only the latest flashpoint in a weekend of coordinated anti-tourism protests across Europe. Protesters used water guns against unsuspecting tourists in the Spanish city of Barcelona. The movement began last year, when Barcelona residents began spraying visitors with water to protest against tourism, which they believe is driving up housing costs and making their city 'unlivable'.
Similar protests were seen in Mallorca, a Spanish island, which saw the biggest gathering of the day as several thousand rallied for the cause. Protests also took place in Italy's Venice, Portugal's Lisbon and other European cities.
Beyond Europe, overtourism has also threatened hotspots like Bali, a hot destination for its balmy beaches. Visitors have strained the local infrastructure and threatened the environment and culture of the Indonesian destination. And in Japan, the town of Fujikawaguchiko recently erected a massive black screen to block tourists from taking the perfect selfie with Mount Fuji, after years of blocked traffic and unwelcome intrusions. Even the world's highest peak, Mount Everest, has come under scrutiny over the annual climbing rush that has turned into a deadly traffic jam, with trash, human waste, and even corpses left strewn along the ascent.
Overtourism in India
Over 1 crore tourists visited Goa in 2024, despite a waning number of foreign visitors. While several locals rely on tourism for their livelihood, concerns have been raised about damage to the beaches and local culture under the strain of visitors. Similarly, in Ladakh, a surge in tourists, catalysed by the 2009 film 3 Idiots, parts of which were shot at the pristine Pangong Lake, has threatened its fragile ecology. Residents complain that the growing number of visitors has created a waste management crisis in the region.
The picturesque hill stations of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are no different. Each summer, roads to Shimla and Manali morph into chaotic bottlenecks, lined with honking cars.
The way forward
Tourism has resurged across the world, which industry experts attribute to 'revenge travel' after the Covid pandemic restrictions forced many to abandon their travel plans. Several tourist hotspots have had to rethink polices to accommodate the spike in visitors. When places receive more tourists than anticipated, it can overwhelm public amenities, adversely impacting the lives of local residents and the quality of visitors' experience. Overtourism can even threaten the environment.
To curb the number of visitors, Venice last year started charging a small access fee for travellers, including a higher charge for last-minute day trippers, on high-traffic days. This comes after Unesco in 2023 warned that it could put Venice on the world heritage blacklist, owing to threats from climate change and mass tourism.
The ancient city of Pompeii in Rome, meanwhile, capped its daily visitors at 20,000 last year. The Greek government has a similar cap on visitors to the ancient Acropolis in Athens, including timed entry tickets. Local residents in the Dutch capital, Amsterdam, frequented for its boisterous culture, protested last year against overcrowding, which they say makes navigating through the city difficult. Residents have run 'Stay Away' campaigns, targeting young British tourists. The government introduced a ban on the construction of new hotels till an existing one closes, and is mulling a plan to relocate the passenger cruise terminal away from the city centre.
Several cities have also hiked the tourist tax on hotel rooms and are cracking down on illegal rental stays.
Sonal Gupta is a senior sub-editor on the news desk. She writes feature stories and explainers on a wide range of topics from art and culture to international affairs. She also curates the Morning Expresso, a daily briefing of top stories of the day, which won gold in the 'best newsletter' category at the WAN-IFRA South Asian Digital Media Awards 2023. She also edits our newly-launched pop culture section, Fresh Take.
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