UK Drops Plan to Charge for National Museum Admission: "Free Entry Boosts Economy"

The British government has decided to maintain its universal free admission policy for national museums, allowing foreign tourists to continue visiting British museums free of charge.

According to reports by the BBC and others on the 29th (local time), the U.K. Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) announced in a statement that the free admission policy for both citizens and foreign tourists will remain in place.

The DCMS explained the background for maintaining free admission, stating, "We determined that charging admission fees to international visitors could reduce domestic attendance, and the impacts and benefits of imposing fees would not be applied evenly across the industry."

This decision follows months of discussions among the government, museums, the tourism industry, and regional leaders over whether charging international tourists admission fees could help ease the financial pressures on these institutions.

The British government had been reviewing the matter since Margaret Hodge, a former minister from the ruling Labour Party, issued a report last December proposing the introduction of admission fees for international visitors to national museums.

At the time, former Minister Hodge argued that this would bring the U.K. in line with countries like Singapore and New Zealand, which maintain free admission for citizens and residents while charging admission to foreign tourists.

Fifteen national museums across the U.K., including 12 in London, have allowed free public access since 2001.

The DCMS stated that national museums contribute more than 1 billion pounds (approx. 1.797 trillion KRW) to the economy annually and continue to draw tourists from around the world.

The Natural History Museum and the British Museum are estimated to have attracted 7.1 million and 6.4 million visitors, respectively, last year.

The British government plans to inject 760 million pounds (approx. 1.366 trillion KRW) to financially support national museums and invest 600 million pounds (approx. 1.078 trillion KRW) in building museum infrastructure.

Doug Gurr, director of the Natural History Museum, welcomed the decision to maintain free admission, noting that while charging admission might benefit the Natural History Museum, it would result in an overall loss for the museum sector.

"Free museums are not a burden on the economy," he added. "Rather, the tourism industry is one of the core elements that benefits the economy."

(Photo: Getty Images)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.