I think Banham charges a high level of fees for two key related reasons:
1. They can -as there's little competition, they're by far the biggest zoo* with the highest quota of ABC's for miles around in most directions (less so to the South with Colchester);
2. They need to -their catchment area is not that populous and they're in a relatively hard to get to location. As a result of this their likely maximum visitor levels are relatively low (as conformed by the last statistics I remember) and so entry fees need to be significant to ensure financial viability. I suspect this is the same reason the zoo went to charity status as gift aid increase their revenues.
I think some people are a little hard when judging Banham. I can't recall many "blind spot" poor areas compared with many others of vaguely similar size and it's animal shows are among the very best I've seen. I think it's problem might be that a "medium" zoo -bigger ones are inevitably better, some smaller interesting ones have a certain charm and a number of other medium zoos are nearer big zoos (I'm thinking Blackpool) and seem to offer more.
In reality I'm not sure there are many zoos similar to Banham in the UK to compare it with. Any suggestions for similar collections to judge it against?
*ironically the biggest competition in a chunk of their catchment area is probably Africa Alive (still struggle with that name) which has the same owners.
I really enjoy being at banham zoo. It has a different collection to my local zoo (colchester) and although its a medium sized zoo I can spend longer here than I can at colchester or Marwell. I am considering getting an annual pass for banham and Africa alive which is also one of my favorite collections.
Banham zoo will soon be getting sea lions and Africa alive will be getting leopards. Because of this I feel like the money is being spent on improving the zoos. Maybe after these projects the prices may go down however I doubt it as they will then probably move onto something else.
I really enjoy being at banham zoo. It has a different collection to my local zoo (colchester) and although its a medium sized zoo I can spend longer here than I can at colchester or Marwell. I am considering getting an annual pass for banham and Africa alive which is also one of my favorite collections.
Banham zoo will soon be getting sea lions and Africa alive will be getting leopards. Because of this I feel like the money is being spent on improving the zoos. Maybe after these projects the prices may go down however I doubt it as they will then probably move onto something else.
It's personal preference of course but I'm astonished you could spend more time at Banham than Colchester
I really like Banham and the site and setting are lovely. The exhibit quality is generally pretty high but it lacks any true showstoppers I think. I hope they get a great ape species in the future, I think that would really elevate the zoo.
The free-flying vultures are truly a sight to behold as well.
