Attendance At American Zoos

mark77 said:
with reference to snowleopards recent post

oregon $10 1,600,000 visitors
seattle $16.50 1,000,000 visitors
atlanta $19 700,000 visitors

The visitor income of these places is roughly the same .
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True, but ONLY when you consider gate admission. With all of those extra people in the zoo, Oregon is benefiting far more from sales of food, souvenirs in the gift shops, and rides. For example, in our book's position, the Oregon Zoo has the best train ride in the USA. If a large chunk of those 1.6 million visitors are riding the train, that's a lot of income.

Regarding some of the other comments, SnowLeopard is right about Columbia, SC -- there's not much else to do there. Another advantage for their Riverbanks Zoo is its highway access. They have perhaps the best interstate highway access of any zoo. You just take the exit and ..pow! You're at the Zoo!

I would slightly disagree with his "there's nothing to do in Portland", though. While it doesn't quite match Seattle for things to do, Portland still has many tourist attractions, with museums, gardens, boat tours on the Columbia River, various mountain and waterfall hiking opportunities, and the beautiful Oregon Pacific coast only a couple hours away. My sister used to live there, so whenever one of us came to visit, there were plenty of choices for things to do. Portland is simply going to their zoo at a superior rate, compared to Seattle.
 
ANyhuis said:
True, but ONLY when you consider gate admission. With all of those extra people in the zoo, Oregon is benefiting far more from sales of food, souvenirs in the gift shops, and rides. For example, in our book's position, the Oregon Zoo has the best train ride in the USA. If a large chunk of those 1.6 million visitors are riding the train, that's a lot of income.

QUOTE]

I agree also the 1.6 million will have more money still in their pockets to spend once they ve made it past the gate. However the profitability of food sales, gift shops, train rides are relatively very low. So although generate revenue dont generate much profit.
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mark77 said:
ANyhuis said:
True, but ONLY when you consider gate admission. With all of those extra people in the zoo, Oregon is benefiting far more from sales of food, souvenirs in the gift shops, and rides. For example, in our book's position, the Oregon Zoo has the best train ride in the USA. If a large chunk of those 1.6 million visitors are riding the train, that's a lot of income.

QUOTE]

I agree also the 1.6 million will have more money still in their pockets to spend once they ve made it past the gate. However the profitability of food sales, gift shops, train rides are relatively very low. So although generate revenue dont generate much profit.
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The trend in the US is that memberships are increasing, which usually means reduced revenues relative to the impressive attendance figures, as any visits beyond the first two by a member (on average) are essentially "free." Also, members tend not to spend as much $$ in gift stores and for food as do one-time full paid visitors.

Zoo Atlanta is located in a park perceived to be in a "bad area of town," which probably contributes more to their low attendance than the other leisure time destination choices available in Atlanta (though no doubt the Aquarium competes heavily for any out-of-town visitors).
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reduakari makes a good point. Zoo Atlanta is in area that is considered "scary" to many Atlanta suburbanites. It's a good zoo, but it is small (37 acres), expensive, and has a serious parking shortage on busy days. Additionally, it is not very accessible by public transit or other attractions, like the Aquarium. Oregon Zoo on the other hand is in a very nice part of Portland and has easy access to Max (the light rail).

Oregon has opened a number of new exhibits in the last 5 years, while ZA has added only some minor exhibits.
 
Blackduiker

sunbear said:
reduakari makes a good point. Zoo Atlanta is in area that is considered "scary" to many Atlanta suburbanites. It's a good zoo, but it is small (37 acres), expensive, and has a serious parking shortage on busy days. Additionally, it is not very accessible by public transit or other attractions, like the Aquarium. Oregon Zoo on the other hand is in a very nice part of Portland and has easy access to Max (the light rail).

Oregon has opened a number of new exhibits in the last 5 years, while ZA has added only some minor exhibits.
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New York Bronx is considered a "scary" area yet they still attracted 2.1 million visitors. Of course with over 8 million residents in the city alone, that shouldn't be too hard a task to accomplish.

Another sign and benefit of increased zoo attendance at American zoos is a rise in Zoological Societies and Association's memberships. An example of this was at the Los Angeles Zoo over the last 6 months:

Press Room - Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens
 
Blackduiker said:
New York Bronx is considered a "scary" area yet they still attracted 2.1 million visitors. Of course with over 8 million residents in the city alone, that shouldn't be too hard a task to accomplish.

Another sign and benefit of increased zoo attendance at American zoos is a rise in Zoological Societies and Association's memberships. An example of this was at the Los Angeles Zoo over the last 6 months:

Press Room - Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens
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The bronx is only scary if you have to drive in the local areas. The zoo is right off a major highway and has a subway station right outside. When I lived in NJ I was really worried about going to the zoo, once I'd checked it out it was fine and the parking was really secure. Parking at the Philadelphia zoo always filled me with dread as its a hike to the zoo from the parking lot and again its in a delapidated area, but luckily again just off the major highway.
 
Ft. Wayne Press release

We are only open from mid-April to mid October.

Rookeyper

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 14, 2009



CONTACT

Cheryl Piropato 260-427-6803
cheryl@kidszoo.org



Zoo Breaks All-Time Attendance Record


The Fort Wayne Children's Zoo broke its all-time attendance record of 541,399, set in 1996, on Sunday. As of September 13, zoo attendance for 2009 stands at 544,648. With nearly four weeks remaining in the regular season and the Great Zoo Halloween yet to come, the zoo is poised for its best season ever.



“The African Journey has generated huge interest,” said Zoo Director Jim Anderson, “and this summer’s weather was ideal for taking the family to the zoo.” The $9 million African Journey opened on June 6 and is the largest project in zoo history.



Based on past seasons, 20,000-30,000 people are expected to visit the zoo before it closes on October 11. An additional 20,000 people normally attend the Great Zoo Halloween event, which runs from October 16-31 this year. School children also visit in November and December for special programs. The zoo’s five-year average annual attendance is 502,426.



The Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo is self-supporting and receives no tax dollars for operation.



The Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo is one of the area’s major attractions and was recently named one of the country’s “Ten Best Zoos for Kids” by Parents magazine.



The zoo is open every day from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. from until October 11. Admission is $12.00 for adults, $8.00 for children age 2-14 and $10.00 for seniors over age 60. Babies age 1 and under and Zoo Society Members are admitted free.



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3411 Sherman Boulevard Fort Wayne IN 46808 260-427-6800 FAX 260-427-6820 Fort Wayne Children's Zoo - Home Page
 
For those who didn't see this, the Columbus Zoo recently admitted our 2 millionth visitor a few days ago which is a first for us. We also are not done with Wildlights which normally brings in over 200,000 people so by the end of the year we could be looking at 2.2 million visitors. I will also be curious to see how well other zoos attendances have increased. This is also no doubt due to the economy.
 
@ColumbusZoo001, do you charge a separate admission for Wildlights? We have Zoolights going on right now until Jan 3 and it's free.
 
zoogeek said:
@ColumbusZoo001, do you charge a separate admission for Wildlights? We have Zoolights going on right now until Jan 3 and it's free.
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No we do not charge a separate admission for lights (although we do charge for certain activities) and I can't think of any zoo that does off the top of my head.
 
There is little doubt that the U.S.is the worlds major zoo nation- despite a recent conversation with the CEO of a UK zoo who thought we were! I would say after the USA it was Germany then Holland,THEN the UK but countries like Switzerland,Czech Republic,Austria,Spain,Belgium all have world class things in them.Im glad to say ive been to 30 of the top 35 U.S.zoos by attendance-not bad for someone from the north of England.Anyone out there know of Marvin Jones? An American zoo legend sadly missed.
 
@ Tim--I do know of Marvin Jones and actually met him many years ago. He was a font of knowledge about animals. His record keeping system way predates ISIS and is pretty darn good once one decodes it. (I had to do this to work on grey kangaroo studbooks).
 
Great to know he is remembered -he would have loved zoochat, a great pal [tho im a lot younger than he was!].Who he didnt know in the old days wasnt worth knowing, went on a huge road trip 6 months before he died in 2006 and of course he was the expert on mammalian captive longevity.Going off zoo attendances somewhat i know but going back to a point relative to that i often think that american folks dont realize that they live in an overwhelmingly prozoo environment by comparison with Britain in particular where many ,many people think zoos are wrong.This could account for an attendance differential which is not in line with total populations.
 
I don't think the population is overwhelmingly pro-zoo? In my volunteer work, I dealt with many negative comments from visitors and misperceptions due to a lack of knowledge (this is why docents are so important) about wildlife. There are people who visit zoos who can't stand zoos. I've met them. They think they know better about how to care for a giraffe, for example, than the zoo. Zoos, I think, can do more to market themselves as the experts on wildlife in addition to education and conservation.

I am surprised to hear that there is more support for zoos in the US than in England because it seems there is more activity on this board from the English side than the American side.
 
I dont know why Brits are so active on zoochat but I run a zoo enthusiasts society that is mostly paper [www.izes.co.uk] and many [most?] of our members scarcely look at the internet, there is also a society for people interested in zoo history called the Bartlett Society.Maybe all these things represent a previously unidentified tradition because we dont really have the best zoos .I will say that in my many travels around the states not one hotel receptionist,waitress or taxi driver has considered my interest in zoos odd or incorrect-that would not be the case in the UK.By the way no one is absolutely sure how many people visit Lincoln Park..and the zoo told me that!
 
tim b said:
I dont know why Brits are so active on zoochat but I run a zoo enthusiasts society that is mostly paper [www.izes.co.uk] and many [most?] of our members scarcely look at the internet, there is also a society for people interested in zoo history called the Bartlett Society.Maybe all these things represent a previously unidentified tradition because we dont really have the best zoos .I will say that in my many travels around the states not one hotel receptionist,waitress or taxi driver has considered my interest in zoos odd or incorrect-that would not be the case in the UK.By the way no one is absolutely sure how many people visit Lincoln Park..and the zoo told me that!
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Yes, LPZ has consistently reported 3 million visitors a year for the past 7 years. You can see this at their website.
 
More good news: Utah's Hogle Zoo (in Salt Lake City) topped one million visitors last year for the very first time.
 
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