Seven different ticketing agencies have been served a total of €20 million in fines by Italy’s competition authority. Due to their practices, it had become nearly impossible for tourists to buy standard entry tickets online, forcing them to purchase more expensive entries.
Investigations into the matter began in July 2023, when a large number of people complained that it had become nearly impossible to buy tickets at official prices online. Now, the competition authority has served a total of € 20 million in fines to the companies that were involved.
The Cooperative Culture Society, the company in charge of managing ticket sales for the ancient amphitheatre from 1997 to 2024, has been served the largest fine by Italy’s antitrust authority, ACGM, with an amount of € 7 million. According to the authority, the Cooperative Culture Society failed to prevent automated ticket hoarding. Moreover, they reserved a large share of their tickets for their own guided tour packages.
“The operators benefited from the constant unavailability of tickets, which left consumers seeking access to the Colosseum with no choice but to purchase them through these channels – often at much higher prices due to the bundling with additional services offered either directly or via other operators”, the ACGM commented in a statement.
The remaining € 14 million in fines were served to six different tour operators Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, and Ireland. The ACGM said they used bots and other automated systems, allowing them to buy up large quantities of tickets. This made a big part of those standard entry tickets unavailable to individual tourists.
Official prices and visitor numbers
The ACGM didn’t disclose the exact mark-ups nor for how long the practices had been going on. According to the website of the Archaeological Park of the Colosseum, operated by the Italian Culture Ministry, a standard ticket granting access to the Colosseum and allowing tourists to spend 20 minutes on the main floor comes at € 18 for adults. A so-called full experience ticket allows access to the wider Colosseum archaeological park and costs € 24.
The Colosseum in Rome is a must-see for many tourists and in 2024 it was also Italy’s most-visited monument, with more than 12 million visitors. The Colosseum director declined to comment on the fines, his office stated.
