12,000 less visitors to museums in January-April

The number of people who visited museums and historic sites in Malta and Gozo in the first four months of 2009 was 285,086, Culture Minister Dolores Cristina said in reply to a parliamentary question by Labour MP Carmelo Abela.

The number of visitors in the same period last year was 297,679.

Over the same four months, the number of schoolchildren visiting the museums and sites rose to 9,955, as against 8,599 in 2008.

Answering other questions by Mr Abela, Mrs Cristina confirmed that schoolchildren's visits would remain free.

She said it was not right to say that there had been a big increase in entrance fees to museums. The previous prices had been very low and had not been increased since 2003, despite a lot of work and investment in the sites.

Although there had been increases in the entrance fees to certain museums, there were other sites for which the new collective ticket meant a reduction in price.

Mrs Cristina said that for Maltese residents there were a number of measures specifically to help financial accessibility, including free entrance on certain occasions as well as special rates for tickets and memberships.

The only steep increase in entrance fees was to the Hypogeum, which was a unique site that required lots of maintenance and was much sought-after by foreigners who visited Malta specifically for the site.