The Italian Competition Authority imposed a fine of nearly 20 million euros on the ticketing services of the Colosseum Archaeological Park due to the prolonged unavailability of access tickets, also linked to bulk buying through bots and other automated tools.
The investigation was initiated in July 2023, following the collection of numerous pieces of evidence by the Authority, which highlighted the significant difficulty consumers faced in purchasing tickets online for access to the Park. From the end of 2022 through the first half of 2023, tickets were immediately sold out after their release on the official CoopCulture website (the company responsible for managing the Colosseum ticketing from 1997 to 2024). Meanwhile, these tickets continued to be available on third-party platforms (such as Musement, GetYourGuide, Tiqets, and Viator), which likely purchased them in bulk through automated systems, known as “bots” – technologies capable of performing online operations automatically, such as the mass and rapid purchase of tickets in this case.
The tickets were then resold at increased prices, usually bundled with additional services such as multilingual audioguides, guided tours, hotel transfer services, panoramic tours, or ‘skip-the-line’ options.
The Authority imposed a 7 million euro fine on CoopCulture for two reasons: first, the company failed to implement measures to prevent automated ticket purchases; second, it reserved a large portion of tickets for sale alongside its educational visits, generating significant economic benefits. This conduct limited the consumers’ ability to purchase tickets at the regular price, thus constituting an unfair commercial practice under Article 20, paragraph 2 of the Consumer Code, which states that: ‘A commercial practice is unfair if it is contrary to professional diligence, and is false or likely to appreciably distort the economic behavior of the average consumer to whom it is directed, or of the average member of a group if the practice is directed at a specific group of consumers”.
As part of the same procedure, the Antitrust Authority also sanctioned several tour operators, including Tiqets International BV, GetYourGuide Deutschland GmbH, Walks LLC, Italy With Family S.r.l., City Wonders Limited, and Musement S.p.A. These operators purchased tickets using bots or other automated tools, significantly contributing to the immediate exhaustion of tickets at the base price on the official CoopCulture website. This conduct provided a competitive advantage to the involved operators, who were able to resell the tickets bundled with additional services, charging consumers significantly higher prices than the original cost. As a result, those wishing to visit the Colosseum often found themselves forced to purchase tickets through these alternative channels at less favorable conditions. This conduct was deemed unfair under Articles 23, paragraph 1, bb-bis), 24, and 25 of the Consumer Code.
Additional information can be found in the official press release issued by the Authority: https://www.agcm.it/media/comunicati-stampa/2025/4/PS12603-
