The Italian Antitrust Authority has fined a ticket sales company and six tour operators almost 20 million euros for hoarding tickets to the Colosseum, restricting tourist access to the Roman amphitheater. This is reported by UNN with reference to Reuters.
Details
The AGCM administration said it fined CoopCulture, which managed the official sale of tickets to the Colosseum from 1997 to 2024, 7 million euros for hoarding tickets and reserving a large part of them for its own tours, the publication reports.
AGCM stated that this behavior led to a "significant and prolonged unavailability" of tickets to Rome's most popular tourist attraction at the standard price. This forced visitors to buy tickets at a higher price along with additional services.
The publication states that six tour operators (Tiqets International BV, GetYourGuide Deutschland GmbH, Walks LLC, Italy With Family Srl, City Wonders Limited and Musement SpA) were also fined for using software bots to bulk buy tickets. As a result, tickets disappeared instantly from the CoopCulture website.
The operators then resold the tickets bundled with their other services: guided tours or priority access, which cost much more.
The investigation began in July 2023 after mass complaints that it was almost impossible for consumers to buy tickets to the Colosseum at official prices online.
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