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Visitors to museums have to pay “voluntary” admission fees, Boris Johnson, the mayor(市長)of London, urged yesterday．He said that encouraging visitors to set a value on museums and art galleries, which have been free since 2001, would work extremely well．Mr．Johnson held up New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art as a model．Although New York's museums are officially free, visitors are strongly encouraged to pay a recommended entry fee of ＄20．At the Met, entry is impossible without first going to the ticket desk．
Mr．Johnson's spokesman later admitted that free admission was a “huge draw” for London, but he said, “Having visited the Met last week, the mayor is impressed by how they maximize voluntary contributions and believes there are lessons to be learnt．” Mark Jones, director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, told The Times that the museum already requested a ￡3 donation but was not as forceful as New York's institutions．He said, “I'm not in favor of anything that makes people feel they won't want to go because they feel like they will have to pay．”
When entrance fees to national museums were decided not to be charged here in 2001, there was a 70 percent increase in visitor numbers in the first year．Political parties have since been unwilling to suggest change, despite concerns about cost．Hugo Swire, the former Shadow Culture Secretary, was dismissed in 2007 for suggesting that “museums and galleries should have the right to charge if they wish”．
Some in the art community argue, however, that free entrance has done little to increase the breadth(廣泛)of visitors and has caused shortfalls in the budget for the museums．In response to it, Colin Tweedy, chief executive of Arts ＆ Business, said that Britain was “l(fā)eading the world” in allowing its treasures to be freely available．He said, “To return to museum charging would be a return to the dark ages．”
Ben Bradshaw, the Culture Secretary, said, “The mayor revealed his true intention when he suggested those who could afford it should be encouraged to contribute to the arts．I believe it is a disaster for the culture, arts and sport．” He thinks that free museums and galleries have once been one of this Government's great successes．
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