If they’re free and struggling, that means we’re underfunding them, there’s no other reason.
But yeah, we should be making tourists pay.
Calm-Treacle8677 on
No, as that quickly becomes charge everyone followed by yearly rate increases
tulki123 on
My only worry is that if we start charging the gov just cuts the subsidy so they’re still poor… but we are paying
moon-bouquet on
Not the British Museum because a lot of the contents are from overseas. Free accessibility for all seems like a fair condition of hanging onto them.
Repulsive_Work_226 on
Hagia Sofia is around £30 and still packed. make it at least £5
Can be free for kids or concessions etc.
Only_Tip9560 on
Foreigners yes, people from other parts of the UK, no. I deeply dislike the idea of charging British people to visit state subsidised museums and other activities because they happen to not live in certain postcodes.
Zossua on
Museums should be free for everyone and only special exhibits should be paid.
HotPie1666 on
Everywhere you go across Europe you have to pay to go in, it doesn’t deter tourists if the price is reasonable.
Iamthe0c3an2 on
We could start with making the old money aristrocats that filled them with their collections pay for em.
Saliiim on
I’m in Thailand at the moment and most of the attractions are free for Thai nationals and foreigners have to pay. Seems the fairest way to do it.
MiniRollsYum on
Yes. Say £10 per person would be a start. Free to UK citizens.
Prior_Worldliness287 on
The question should be why shouldn’t we be charging tourists.
To be honest they’re way too busy.
UJ_Reddit on
Yes, if the funds are managed, and not just to pay some CEO or board
MerlonMan on
Controversial opinion but a lot of museums would be better experiences if there was even a small fee. Whenever I’ve been in the Tate modern it’s clear that it was somewhat used as dumping ground to put tourists/students who were only there because it was free. More popular than any piece of art were the stairs where people could sit down and look at their phones.
There is some psychological value in having no extra marginal cost to visiting a museum, so it would be nice if the tickets allowed re-entry within a certain time period, say for 3 months. This would naturally bias towards people who live and work near the museums.
BlazeFireHorse76 on
Tourists should pay. Every other country did this. Went to Turkey (other countries do this too including the US for national parks) , and the prices set for tourists vs locals vs eye watering.
Icy-Musician-6309 on
Definitely start charging tourists to see there acquisitions antiquities from there countries (finders keepers)
Aeceus on
UK museums should be free for citizens, maybe a smaller charge for tourists.
Odd-Pineapple-8932 on
Other countries make tourists pay and keep things cheap or free for locals.
If someone can afford the price of the trek, they can afford the price of the leisure.
aethelberga on
How is it different than making people pay to tour Westminster Abbey or the Tower? These things cost a bomb to keep going. Tourists should absolutely pay. I’m a tourist and I just budget stuff like that into the trip.
TheRealCostaS on
Almost every museum is chargeable that I’ve been to outside the uk. I see nothing wrong with charging tourists to help with the cost of the museums.
Fabulous_Cow_4550 on
Many countries have musuems free or cheap for citizens/residents, paid for visitors I think that’s fair.
JasonM2244 on
Free for locals, cost for internationals is the easiest solution surely?
Aggressive_Trainer91 on
Education and information must be free. Nobody owns knowledge.
100flavors_of_crazy on
Another Mr angry piece of garbage writing, let’s get the populous enraged it’s a wonder they never mentioned immigrants or the homeless using them.
Rockky67 on
Maybe have a weekly pass that non UK people can buy that gives access to all the ones currently free and then divide up the subsidies from the money garnered across the different museums visited as the museums will be able to monitor where the passes were used.
Nicoglius on
Maybe we could charge in some museums, but asking people to pay to see their own country’s stuff that we took (by honest means or otherwise) I think is quite something.
MattiasCrowe on
What if there was a higher property tax for non-domiciles
DazzlingPleco on
A lot of the world they have a foreigner tax on tourist activities and heritage site natives pay one price and foreigners pay double.
BasicBanter on
No, a lot of the content is from overseas so free accessibility seems a fair trade. Clearly they need more funding
CardiffBorn on
No. We should increase funding instead of spending money on illegal wars!
Winston_Carbuncle on
Thailand charge tourists but not locals for things like this. As a foreigner I didn’t see the issue so, yes, we should do it here.
As an aside locals also get a cheaper rate on the Bangkok transit system.
GeorgeSThompson on
I’m proud of our free museums and im proud that they are free for tourists. It’s one of the great things about our country. Let’s keep it that way, one of the few things im happy to pay tax for
SlaveToCat on
As a tourist, ffs YES. Everyone else is soaking us while we’re here, why not have our money go to a great cause. Keep it free for residents by all means but have us pay.
Madness_Quotient on
Wealthy people seem to have forgotten that they patronise cultural institutions for the dual reasons of maintaining their own status and ensuring that they have an educated and happy populace to work in their means of production.
If they forget to pay of their own volition we should forget to not tax them into the floor.
Huldukona on
Personally, as a foreign tourist myself, I would much prefer to pay for access to museums! Imo people often behave more respectfully if they actually have to pay for the experience, and I suspect a lot of visitors (museums) aren´t really interested in what´s on display, but hey, it´s for free and when you get back home you can brag about how “cultural” you are… Back in the day I really loved going to the The British Museum, I lived in London for a while and I can actually remember a time when there was hardly anyone else there, it was just quiet and enjoyable. While I know those days are certainly gone, it has now gone to the other extreme and become an absolute nightmare with so many loud tourists, it´s like going to the circus, people literally can´t keep their mouth shut for a second, and no one has ever heard of “inside voice” they´re yelling at one another or shouting at their children who in turn are running around playing. And none of them hesitate to walk right in front of you and block what you are actively looking at/reading about and showing no consideration whatsoever. It´s awful and I absolutely hate it. I would much prefer to pay for entrance if that meant some of those people would refrain from visiting.
dreddstorm82 on
First time I went , I was surprised it was free but donate atleast a 20 since I probably would of paid more at home . I think if you made tourists pay they wouldn’t even care to be honest so I probably would if I were making the decision. I’ve been to London 3 times and I go to tower each time and I don’t mind paying for that at all . I figure how many times am I really going to be able to see things I care about and like why not splurge!
philbie on
I went to the Tate last week. And the Natural History the week before. Next week i am going to the British Museum. The Science Museum is also on the list.The South London Gallery is a regular visit as they do displays
Razzilith on
well if the UK ONLY paid to maintain the royal’s locations, and kicked them out forcing them to actually contribute that’s millions right there… then make sure your rich and *all* corporations pay tax.
honestly at that point you really ought to have the money to fund museums. SHOULD have the money now, it’s probably not being allocated properly, but yeah if you want MORE money to do it those are really easy ways of getting a fuckton of money.
hell, you could tax billionaires extra and call it a “preservation tax” which is specifically used for places like museums and historic locations.
MrSouthWest on
Easy solve. Make them £3 for tourists.
Cheap enough that it is still outrageous value but does enough to provide an income source
cruzecontroll on
NYC does pay as you wish for residents. And charge tourists $25-$30. Perhaps London should do the same.
marauder80 on
I dont really see an issue with this however there seems to be s growing issue where museums are losing sight of what they are there for. Too many displays are disappearing to be replaced by soft plays, crap overpriced wannabee coffee shops and gift shops that sell very little related to the actual museum unless its a rubber with the museum logo on it.
TheCharalampos on
Nah just have a proper tourist tax and use those funds to properly fund museums.
EuroSong on
Yes they should. In Egypt, Egyptian Citizens get free admission to the Museum of Cairo – while tourists have to pay. So there is precedent.
continuousQ on
Charge tourists at the border and put it towards funding things like museums. Don’t invent more reasons to have to check people’s IDs.
Crazy_Reputation_758 on
The natural history museum in London would definitely benefit from charging for tickets-it need not be much, just £5 or so cause when I went this year it seemed like half the world’s population also visited that day.There was massive queues for bathrooms, nowhere to sit in the cafes and it was extremely crowded and noisy which detracted from the experience.
MarginPut on
Not sure how this passes the sniff test for the British Museum… Charging people from other countries to be able to see precious articles stolen from those countries…
ChickenPijja on
A city based tourist tax, with the funds ringfenced to go to the museums would be fine in my view. The only downside is that it would tax those who are from somewhere that can’t visit for the day (thinking those from Scotland visiting London), whether they should get that city tax back or not might be tricky.
Automatic_Acadia_766 on
Why not, happens in other countries.
Or if not free, tourists have to pay more than locals.
diego_simeone on
For the Natural history Museum you really need to book in advanced, the queue at the door is always massive. Would be simple to have a check for a UK address when booking in advance. If you don’t have a UK address you pay. Anyone (including UK citizens) who turn up on the door without tickets has to pay.
49 Comments
If they’re free and struggling, that means we’re underfunding them, there’s no other reason.
But yeah, we should be making tourists pay.
No, as that quickly becomes charge everyone followed by yearly rate increases
My only worry is that if we start charging the gov just cuts the subsidy so they’re still poor… but we are paying
Not the British Museum because a lot of the contents are from overseas. Free accessibility for all seems like a fair condition of hanging onto them.
Hagia Sofia is around £30 and still packed. make it at least £5
Can be free for kids or concessions etc.
Foreigners yes, people from other parts of the UK, no. I deeply dislike the idea of charging British people to visit state subsidised museums and other activities because they happen to not live in certain postcodes.
Museums should be free for everyone and only special exhibits should be paid.
Everywhere you go across Europe you have to pay to go in, it doesn’t deter tourists if the price is reasonable.
We could start with making the old money aristrocats that filled them with their collections pay for em.
I’m in Thailand at the moment and most of the attractions are free for Thai nationals and foreigners have to pay. Seems the fairest way to do it.
Yes. Say £10 per person would be a start. Free to UK citizens.
The question should be why shouldn’t we be charging tourists.
To be honest they’re way too busy.
Yes, if the funds are managed, and not just to pay some CEO or board
Controversial opinion but a lot of museums would be better experiences if there was even a small fee. Whenever I’ve been in the Tate modern it’s clear that it was somewhat used as dumping ground to put tourists/students who were only there because it was free. More popular than any piece of art were the stairs where people could sit down and look at their phones.
There is some psychological value in having no extra marginal cost to visiting a museum, so it would be nice if the tickets allowed re-entry within a certain time period, say for 3 months. This would naturally bias towards people who live and work near the museums.
Tourists should pay. Every other country did this. Went to Turkey (other countries do this too including the US for national parks) , and the prices set for tourists vs locals vs eye watering.
Definitely start charging tourists to see there acquisitions antiquities from there countries (finders keepers)
UK museums should be free for citizens, maybe a smaller charge for tourists.
Other countries make tourists pay and keep things cheap or free for locals.
If someone can afford the price of the trek, they can afford the price of the leisure.
How is it different than making people pay to tour Westminster Abbey or the Tower? These things cost a bomb to keep going. Tourists should absolutely pay. I’m a tourist and I just budget stuff like that into the trip.
Almost every museum is chargeable that I’ve been to outside the uk. I see nothing wrong with charging tourists to help with the cost of the museums.
Many countries have musuems free or cheap for citizens/residents, paid for visitors I think that’s fair.
Free for locals, cost for internationals is the easiest solution surely?
Education and information must be free. Nobody owns knowledge.
Another Mr angry piece of garbage writing, let’s get the populous enraged it’s a wonder they never mentioned immigrants or the homeless using them.
Maybe have a weekly pass that non UK people can buy that gives access to all the ones currently free and then divide up the subsidies from the money garnered across the different museums visited as the museums will be able to monitor where the passes were used.
Maybe we could charge in some museums, but asking people to pay to see their own country’s stuff that we took (by honest means or otherwise) I think is quite something.
What if there was a higher property tax for non-domiciles
A lot of the world they have a foreigner tax on tourist activities and heritage site natives pay one price and foreigners pay double.
No, a lot of the content is from overseas so free accessibility seems a fair trade. Clearly they need more funding
No. We should increase funding instead of spending money on illegal wars!
Thailand charge tourists but not locals for things like this. As a foreigner I didn’t see the issue so, yes, we should do it here.
As an aside locals also get a cheaper rate on the Bangkok transit system.
I’m proud of our free museums and im proud that they are free for tourists. It’s one of the great things about our country. Let’s keep it that way, one of the few things im happy to pay tax for
As a tourist, ffs YES. Everyone else is soaking us while we’re here, why not have our money go to a great cause. Keep it free for residents by all means but have us pay.
Wealthy people seem to have forgotten that they patronise cultural institutions for the dual reasons of maintaining their own status and ensuring that they have an educated and happy populace to work in their means of production.
If they forget to pay of their own volition we should forget to not tax them into the floor.
Personally, as a foreign tourist myself, I would much prefer to pay for access to museums! Imo people often behave more respectfully if they actually have to pay for the experience, and I suspect a lot of visitors (museums) aren´t really interested in what´s on display, but hey, it´s for free and when you get back home you can brag about how “cultural” you are… Back in the day I really loved going to the The British Museum, I lived in London for a while and I can actually remember a time when there was hardly anyone else there, it was just quiet and enjoyable. While I know those days are certainly gone, it has now gone to the other extreme and become an absolute nightmare with so many loud tourists, it´s like going to the circus, people literally can´t keep their mouth shut for a second, and no one has ever heard of “inside voice” they´re yelling at one another or shouting at their children who in turn are running around playing. And none of them hesitate to walk right in front of you and block what you are actively looking at/reading about and showing no consideration whatsoever. It´s awful and I absolutely hate it. I would much prefer to pay for entrance if that meant some of those people would refrain from visiting.
First time I went , I was surprised it was free but donate atleast a 20 since I probably would of paid more at home . I think if you made tourists pay they wouldn’t even care to be honest so I probably would if I were making the decision. I’ve been to London 3 times and I go to tower each time and I don’t mind paying for that at all . I figure how many times am I really going to be able to see things I care about and like why not splurge!
I went to the Tate last week. And the Natural History the week before. Next week i am going to the British Museum. The Science Museum is also on the list.The South London Gallery is a regular visit as they do displays
well if the UK ONLY paid to maintain the royal’s locations, and kicked them out forcing them to actually contribute that’s millions right there… then make sure your rich and *all* corporations pay tax.
honestly at that point you really ought to have the money to fund museums. SHOULD have the money now, it’s probably not being allocated properly, but yeah if you want MORE money to do it those are really easy ways of getting a fuckton of money.
hell, you could tax billionaires extra and call it a “preservation tax” which is specifically used for places like museums and historic locations.
Easy solve. Make them £3 for tourists.
Cheap enough that it is still outrageous value but does enough to provide an income source
NYC does pay as you wish for residents. And charge tourists $25-$30. Perhaps London should do the same.
I dont really see an issue with this however there seems to be s growing issue where museums are losing sight of what they are there for. Too many displays are disappearing to be replaced by soft plays, crap overpriced wannabee coffee shops and gift shops that sell very little related to the actual museum unless its a rubber with the museum logo on it.
Nah just have a proper tourist tax and use those funds to properly fund museums.
Yes they should. In Egypt, Egyptian Citizens get free admission to the Museum of Cairo – while tourists have to pay. So there is precedent.
Charge tourists at the border and put it towards funding things like museums. Don’t invent more reasons to have to check people’s IDs.
The natural history museum in London would definitely benefit from charging for tickets-it need not be much, just £5 or so cause when I went this year it seemed like half the world’s population also visited that day.There was massive queues for bathrooms, nowhere to sit in the cafes and it was extremely crowded and noisy which detracted from the experience.
Not sure how this passes the sniff test for the British Museum… Charging people from other countries to be able to see precious articles stolen from those countries…
A city based tourist tax, with the funds ringfenced to go to the museums would be fine in my view. The only downside is that it would tax those who are from somewhere that can’t visit for the day (thinking those from Scotland visiting London), whether they should get that city tax back or not might be tricky.
Why not, happens in other countries.
Or if not free, tourists have to pay more than locals.
For the Natural history Museum you really need to book in advanced, the queue at the door is always massive. Would be simple to have a check for a UK address when booking in advance. If you don’t have a UK address you pay. Anyone (including UK citizens) who turn up on the door without tickets has to pay.