ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s antitrust authority has fined a ticketing firm and 6 tour operators practically 20 million euros ($21.7 million) for ticket hoarding practices limiting entry to the Roman Colosseum, the regulator stated on Monday.
The AGCM authority stated it had fined CoopCulture, which managed official ticket gross sales for the Colosseum from 1997-2024, 7 million euros for failing to stop automated ticket hoarding and for reserving a big share of tickets for its personal guided tour packages.
The AGCM stated this conduct led to the “substantial and extended unavailability” of standard-priced tickets for Italy’s hottest vacationer attraction, forcing shoppers to buy higher-priced tickets bundled with further providers.
Six tour operators – Tiqets Worldwide BV, GetYourGuide Deutschland GmbH, Walks LLC, Italy With Household S.r.l., Metropolis Wonders Restricted, and Musement S.p.A. – had been additionally fined for utilizing software program robots (bots) to purchase tickets in bulk, contributing to their speedy disappearance from CoopCulture’s web site.
The operators then resold the tickets bundled with providers equivalent to guided excursions or precedence entry, usually at considerably greater costs, the regulator stated.
The investigation started in July 2023 after widespread complaints that it was practically unattainable for shoppers to purchase tickets to the Colosseum at official costs on-line.
($1 = 0.9227 euros)
(Reporting by Gavin Jones, modifying by Gianluca Semeraro and Louise Heavens)
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