Gökhan Eren Karakulak - 10

Many museums charge for admission while others are free.

Do you think the advantages of charging people for admission to museums outweigh the disadvantages?

Museums have a critical place in terms of history and art of countries, and many countries attract a significant number of tourists thanks to their famous museums around the world, just like ‘British Museum in London’. Also, visiting museums is one of the most popular activities of many people, but some museums request fee for admission, while some others can be free. Both situations have certain advantages and disadvantages for the visitors and museums.

Firstly, although we estimate the costs of operating museums to be low, they are quite high due to the fact that the cost of their fundamental expenditures which are cleaning, security and guide services is really high. When people visit museums, they always see everything shiny and sparkly in the museums, because many cleaning staff work in the museums. Another good example of this is museum guides who speak different languages. Thanks to them, people spend more productive and enjoyable time in the museums. Therefore, museums need large sum of money for all these. In addition to this, museums might be in financial need in order to be able to purchase some new art pieces, which can be obtained from the budget received from the admission fees.

Secondly, as for the disadvantages of museums fee for admission, it can be pointed out that not every person who gives value to museums can afford the admission fee of the museums. This is considered as a sad and hard situation for both people and museums. As a result, museum fees may lead to a decrease in the number of visitors. For this reason, many museums lose their popularity and value. Unfortunately, nowadays, several museums are closing up because of the lack of demand by visitors.

As for my opinion, museums should definitely charge the visitors with a decent fee, but it has to be at an optimum level; namely, all visitors should be able to pay this fee easily. Besides, governments ought to support these museums by helping them meet their operating costs and other expenditures. Thus, museums can always remain well-maintained and safe. And finally, all museums in all countries in the world must be free of charge for students and children, because all children should have the right to visit museums.

In conclusion, museum administrations need a serious budget to keep the museum well-groomed and magnificent. To achieve this goal, they have to cover their needs by some of their budget received from the entrance fees. However, while the entrance fee can provide an advantage for the museums, if this fee is too much, it can turn into a disadvantage, which may lead the museums to face with losing their visitors and, ultimately, their popularity.