30/04/2026 09:48 (UTC)
‘Bots’, scalpers shut tourists out of Colosseum tickets in Rome
Rome, Apr 30 (EFE).- Since the beginning of the year, gaining access to the Colosseum in Rome has become an extremely difficult task, bordering on the impossible for the average tourist.The widespread use of ‘bots’ and sophisticated blocking techniques by unaccredited agencies has left the official website virtually deserted, forcing thousands of visitors to settle for viewing the Flavian Amphitheater from the outside.CAMERA: DANIEL CÁCERESFOOTAGE OF THE COLOSSEUM IN ROME, ITALY.SOUNDBITES OF ISABELLA RUGGIERO, PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LICENSED TOUR GUIDES (AGTA):1.- “The Colosseum’s website, the Colosseum’s platform, cannot be like that of any small website; it must be a completely secure and perfectly organized site.”2.- “Among the various software programs is one called ‘freezing,’ which allows users to automatically purchase, via bots, many tickets the moment they go on sale, before a regular tourist can access them, but keeps them in the cart for days on end, so that the agency doesn’t have to pay immediately; it waits to secure the reservation, waits to get the name, and only finalizes the purchase at the very last moment.”3.- “It’s clear that there are never enough tickets (...) we must do everything possible so that anyone who wants to visit the site and plans ahead—in this case, a month in advance—can purchase them on the public website.”
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