Is Price Discrimination the Bad Kind of Discrimination?
Discriminating is the worst thing ever, but is it still bad when price varies based on your willingness to pay?
Last week I wrote about the Washington Post article claiming “chaos” is ensuing at the eleven most popular national parks due to a New Year Trump Administration innovation of charging foreign tourists and illegal aliens more for entrance than U.S. citizens and legal residents. The underlying moral assumption was that it is DISCRIMINATORY, XENOPHOBIC, and downright RACIST to charge foreigners more than American taxpayers to visit our most in-demand national parks.
But now the Louvre just raised ticket prices to 45% higher for non-Europeans.
From EuroNews:
Louvre museum to charge non-Europeans more: Here are the tourist attractions using dual pricing
French worker unions have denounced the Louvre ticketing change, saying it undermines the universal mission of the world’s most visited museum.
By Rebecca Ann Hughes & THOMAS ADAMSON with Associated Press
Published on 16/01/2026 - 16:33 GMT+1
Dual pricing is already in place for various tourist tickets or fees across Europe and the rest of the world.
On Wednesday, the Louvre Museum in Paris raised admission prices for most non-European visitors by nearly half in an attempt to shore up its finances following repeated strikes, chronic overcrowding, and a brazen French Crown Jewels heist that shook the institution.
By they way, if you happen to visit Kracow, Poland, you can see Leonardo’s “Lady With An Ermine” in a room that usually has only about dozen visitors.
The museum said the 45 per cent price hike from €22 to €32 is part of a national “differentiated pricing” policy announced early last year, which is coming into force across major cultural sites, including the Versailles Palace, the Paris Opera and the Sainte-Chapelle.
But French worker unions have denounced the Louvre ticketing change, saying it undermines the universal mission of the world’s most visited museum.
The change affects visitors from most non-EU countries, including the United States, which typically accounts for the majority of the Louvre’s foreign tourists.
Under the new structure, visitors who are neither citizens nor residents of the EU, or Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, will pay the higher rate. …
Still, some tourists questioned the logic of charging visitors more. “In general, for tourists things should be a little bit cheaper than for local people because we have to travel to come all the way here,” said Darla Daniela Quiroz, visiting from Vancouver. …
At Versailles, the ‘Passport’ ticket will cost €35 in high season for visitors from outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, compared to €32 for visitors who are citizens or residents of those countries.
At Sainte-Chapelle, the ticket rises to €22 for visitors from outside those countries, versus €16 for those within them, according to heritage officials.
Similarly, America’s top art museum, the Met in New York, charges $30 for everybody except residents of the state of New York and students attending college in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut. They get to pay whatever they want.
Why are tourist sites around the world using dual pricing?
Venice’s daytripper levy, which has been enforced on weekends and busy days for the last few years, costs as much as €10 for tourists.
However, residents of Venice or the surrounding Veneto region do not have to pay.
Venice is probably near the top of the global list of cities that tourists would pay just to wander around in. So now they have to pay just to visit Venice in general as well as buildings in particular. But, hey, it’s Venice!
Authorities say the access fee system is key to easing the pressure that the throngs of tourists just visiting for a day put on the city’s services and infrastructure.
“It represents a useful tool for managing tourist flows and ensuring a better balance between residents and visitors,” says councillor Michele Zuin.
However, data shows the measure hasn’t yet curbed visitor numbers.
Visiting Venice once before you die is high on a lot of people’s bucket lists, so ten euros isn’t going to make much of a dent in foot traffic.
Throughout Italy, museums and attractions are often free for residents, including the Boboli Gardens in Florence and the Capitoline Museums in Rome, as well as the soon-to-be-introduced charge to get up close to the Trevi Fountain. …
On 1 January this year, President Donald Trump’s administration raised the entry fee for foreign tourists in US national parks by $100 (€86) as part of his ‘America First’ policy.
… Proponents of dual pricing argue that tax-paying citizens and residents should have facilitated access to cultural and natural treasures, especially in countries where the wealth divide between tourists and locals can be extreme.
But some instances of a ‘foreigner tax’ have been deemed unfair.
In Japan, dual pricing is in place at various tourist sites, including Okinawa’s new Junglia theme park and Niseko Ski Resorts in Hokkaido.
But its recent introduction at some restaurants has prompted criticism.
A seafood buffet restaurant in Tokyo’s Shibuya district was the subject of a backlash on Reddit and X last year after it started charging foreign tourists ¥1,100 (€6) more than Japanese nationals and residents for its all-you-can-eat deal.
Staff would check eligibility by asking customers to speak Japanese or show a residence card.
“Considering the rise in labour costs due to service costs and time used to serve [foreign customers], we have no other choice but to set the different prices,” Tamatebako’s owner told The Japan News.
In general, price discrimination is coming back after being out of fashion for 150 years.
Up into the 1850s, shops didn’t mark prices. Instead, …
Paywall here.
