Italy fines seven firms €20m for price fixing of tickets for Rome’s Colosseum

Ticketing company and six tour operators fined for using software bots to hoard tickets for sale at inflated prices

More than 12 million people visited the Colosseum in 2024. File picture

An Italian ticketing company and six tour operators have been fined almost €20m for illegal practices that made it difficult for regular visitors to access Rome’s Colosseum at the standard cost.

Italy’s antitrust authority, AGCM, said the practices, including using software bots to hoard tickets and resell them at higher prices, made it “essentially impossible” to buy tickets online for site.