Italy: Rome’s Colosseum welcomes up to 8,000 tourists a day

Rome: The Colosseum is currently welcoming an average of seven to eight thousand tourists a day, with visitor numbers rising, according to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

These figures are far below the pre-covid daily average of between 20 and 25 thousand tourists in the high season however the numbers have been growing steadily since the end of June.

The Colosseum archaeological park told Corriere della Sera it is “satisfied” with the numbers visiting the ancient amphitheatre which before the coronavirus pandemic sold more than six million tickets annually.

The visitors are predominantly Europeans – “many Spanish, Germans and then French and English” reports the Corriere – however the Colosseum has to cope with the loss of its Chinese, Japanese and American tourists who “haven’t been seen in more than a year and a half.”

The Colosseum, which hosted the first G20 Culture Ministers’ Meeting last week, recently launched its annual Luna sul Colosseo initiative giving Saturday night tours of the arena’s labyrinth of underground chambers and tunnels, under the light of the moon.

The Parco Archaeologico del Colosseo – which in addition to the Colosseum includes the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill and Domus Aurea – is open seven days a week but visits must be booked online.