Italian Authority Fines Tour Operators Hoarding Rome's Colosseum Tickets

JAKARTA - Italy's antitrust authority last week fined ticket companies and six tour operators nearly 20 million euros over ticket hoarding practices that limit access to Rome's Colosseum, Italy, regulators said.

The AGCM authorities said they had fined Culture, which manages official ticket sales for the Colosseum from 1997-2024 for 7 million euros, for failing to prevent automatic ticket hoarding and for ordering most tickets for their own guided tour packages.

The AGCM said this action caused "the availability of tickets at substantial and prolonged standard prices" for Italy's most popular tourist attractions, which forced consumers to buy tickets at higher prices that were bundled with additional services.

The investigation began in July 2023, after many complaints were almost impossible for consumers to buy a Colosseum ticket at an official online price.

Six touring operators - Tiqets International BV, GetYourGuide Deutschland GmbH, Walks LLC, Italy With Family S.r.l., City Wonders Limited, and Musement Sp.A. - were also fined for using software robots (bots) to buy large tickets, causing the ticket to disappear quickly from the web site Culture.

Operators then resell tickets that are bundled with services such as guided tours or priority access, often at a much higher price, regulators say.

Meanwhile, GetYourGuide said in a statement the regulator's decision was "baseless and far from fact", adding they were determined to "maintain the integrity of our operations".

Other tour operators mentioned by the AGCM authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

It is known, built 2,000 years ago, the Colosseum was the largest amphitheater in the Roman Empire and was used to host battlers, executions, and animal hunting. Nearly 13 million people visited it in 2023, according to the latest official data.