Airbnb’s partnership with the Colosseum will offer guests a gladiator experience

Rome’s ancient Colosseum will be the site of gladiator fights—albeit staged—for the first time in two millennia under a $1.5 million sponsorship deal with Airbnb that aims to promote “more conscious tourism.”

But some tourists who visited the monument on Thursday, as well as housing activists, were skeptical of the program’s value, citing ongoing disputes in many cities about the role of short-term rental platforms in driving overtourism and reducing affordable housing for residents and students.

Under a deal announced by Airbnb and the Colosseum on Wednesday, the rental giant’s funding will include the renovation of an educational program inside the ancient Roman amphitheater that combines the building’s history with gladiators.

Eight arena users and more of them will be able to take part in mock gladiator fights after the closing time of the Colosseum on May 7-8, taking the same underground route used by gladiators in ancient Rome to reach the arena. People can apply for information on November 27 for free, and the “gladiators” will be chosen by lottery.

The superintendent of the Colosseum Archaeological Park, Alfonsina Russo, told The Associated Press that the deal coincides with the release of Ridley Scott’s new movie “Gladiators II,” which opened in Italy on Thursday.

Russo noted the grant program as one of many such deals to help finance park projects.

Italian fashion company Tod’s, for example, has financed the renovation of the Roman monument in the millions, including cleaning, replacing the arch locking system with new gates and renovating the underground areas.

Alberto Campailla, coordinator of non-profit Nonna Roma that focuses on housing and food for the poor, called the campaign by Airbnb “shameful,” and a form of “tourism.”

Airbnb and other short-term rental platforms “are not only driving people out of the city center, but also into the suburbs,” Capailla said.

Tourists from other European cities facing overtourism are also against this agreement.

“It seems to me that the purpose of the Colosseum today is to be a tourist attraction, but not to build an amusement park inside it,” said Jaime Montero, a tourist who visited Madrid. “In the end, tourism eats away at the core of cities, here in Rome, as in other capitals.”

Visiting Naples, Salvatore Di Matteo saw the deal as “yet another takeover” by big companies.

“When they start touching sacred monuments like the Colosseum here in Rome, it’s obviously something that should make us think and, in any case, it worries us a little bit,” he said.

The Colosseum is the most important and largest theater built by the ancient Romans. Built in the first century, it was a popular entertainment center, hosting hunting and gladiator games, until the 6th century.

-Paolo Santalucia, Associated Press