Taronga Western Plains Zoo Dubbo's problems in atracting tourists

torie

torie

Well-Known Member
i just wanted to know what you guys thought about the current combined (Taronga and Dubbo) Zoo's website. in my opinion it has a huge focus on whats happening at Taronga and as a result its really hard to find out anything really use full about Dubbo Zoo. this may be a small part of the reason why Dubbo is having trouble keeping the numbers up. if city folk cant find otu about the zoo before going there or get a feel for what to expect they may be more reluctant to make the 6 hours drive out the the zoo for the weekend.

just look at the home page, half of it is taken up by stuff on new asian Elephants and the rest are press releases from mainly Taronga.

I could be making a big deal out of nothing but it just seems like they would be better off with two seperate websites, joined by one comon zoological society page.
 
western plaisn last year launched there own site Western Plains Zoofari Experience and there was a heap of advertisments in the sunday papers for about a months. but yea, it could be a problem, but taronga does attratc the most guests, i think there needs to be a bigger focus on the 2 zoos relationship, there is a small section on wpz at taronga, but still a little more could go a long way!
 
I feel that both zooboy and Torie have very good points here, it seems the WPZ is pushed into back ground a little to much for its own good, and as zoos need people though the gates with their money, also I feel as zoos in Oz phase out more species this "could" see less of the public going into zoos, time will tell I guess
 
dubbo is just so out of the way

i was gonna say, why not do a 50 % thing when u go to taronga and pay full fare, get the 50% off western plains. but it's not like melbourne only 30 minutes to africa geelong way, as with adleiade and monarto.

when i was at western plains last week, there was heaps of people and at $40 dollar per adult, they are making a bit of money for each adult (our total was 120 for admission, 2 adults 2 consessions, with me as a zoofriend) so they make some money, but of course, i dont beelive they make enough to stand on tehre own, and taronga is funding alot of dubbo i would have to guess.

still, in my opinion, a local's discount could be a good option. not many local dubbo familes visit, cause it's a $100 day out, but if it was discounted to locals, there would be more through the gates, and more spent inside the zoo, on tours, and food. the zoo really is a great day out, there is a large family area with meerkats, wombats and an aivary, with a huge play area with flying foxes, perfect for a young family. in the beginning of western plains, it would have been mainly locals enjoying a day out, so if they could re-introduce lower prices for locals, maybe then they will get more revenue

^ i think that all sounds bit confusing, my mind all over place, bloody hsc trials!!!!!!!^
 
$40 per adult!!!!!!!!!!!!

thats even a bigger bloody rip-off than taronga!!!!!

and thats after you just spent $100 on fuel to drive out there.....
 
$37 i beleive to be exact, sorry, thats why my suggestion of special rates for locals would be better. there is more famil deals for 2 adult and 2 kids under 15, it's like 70 ot 80 bux, going to check site now
 
sourced from taronga/western plains zoo site
Taronga and Western Plains Zoos

GENERAL ADMISSION

Adults $37.00
Children (4-15 years) $18.00
Under 4years Free
Pensioners/Seniors $23.00
Student Concessions $23.00

FAMILY PASS 2 Adults 2 Children $93.00
2 Adults 1 Child $81.00
1 Adult 2 Children $67.50
1 Adult 3 Children $80.00
Extra child with family $12.50
 
do the tickets cover two days in the zoo? because if thats the price for two days worth of entry thats really not that bad
 
yea it is 2 days, so no it's not that bad, considering there really is nothing else that big of an attraction in the central west
 
how far is dubbo from the east coast and is there a main rail link and how long is it on the train
 
I think Dubbo is about 5 hours drive North west from Sydney, unless they have up graded the road a bit since I did that drive some years ago
 
the whole road is graded

i am still hopping for the beels line express way, straight through middle of mountains!
 
train from Sydney to Dubbo

Several years ago I went on the XPT train to Dubbo from Sydney .
We left approx 8.30 AM and arrived at Dubbo approx 2.00 PM

I dont know if it is any faster now .....
 
Taronga's "country branch" (Western Plains Zoo) was originally supposed to be built on the western outskirts of Sydney, and they actually had a site picked out at Colo, but then politics got in the way.

The Minister for Lands in the state government at the time was also the politician representing the Dubbo area. He told them that if they built the zoo at Dubbo they could virtually have an open cheque. If they didn't, then financially they were on their own.

Consequently, the zoo was built at Dubbo.

(If it had been built on the outskirts of Sydney I would visit all the time.
As it's such a long drive, though, I only visit every3 years or so, and I suspect that there are a lot of people like me.)
 
It's a shame WPZ doesn't get more coverage. I went there a year or two ago, and it was a spur of the moment thing because I heard John Cleese was going to be there supporting the zoo, so I bought tickets. The whole event made me realise zoo's play an important role in conservation. The love for the zoo was infectious and the following day when we visited the zoo it was a wonderful memorable experience.

If it hadn't been for that I wouldn't have found the motivation to drive 6 hours, but it was a fantastic holiday and I am eager to go back.
 
On a bit more positive note Dubbo city council and a number of airlines are about to start discussions. Kendall is the primary airline servicing dubbo (a division of REX). Virgin Blue has shown interest in establishing a terminal at dubbo. maening a huge expansion of the aiport to allow jets to land on dubbo airport runways and a one hour $80 trip to dubbo. I think this may increase the number of tourists to the zoo. We have been talking to virgin and Council and I'm considering establishing transfers to town and the zoo on coaches including guided zoo tours departing the airport and central dubbo locations. not to make money but to add to the zoos numbers. Also council is doing a major upgrade of the old dubbo gaol. They have noticed a severe drop in tourism and hundred of thousands of dollars are being spent on their part to help the situation
 
I think upgrading the airport and doing packaged day trips to Western Plains Zoo (like they do to Australia Zoo from Sydney :eek: ) would be a great idea.

It might pay to make it a bit easier to get around the zoo for people on foot though ... perhaps a free regular shuttle bus that does the main loop stopping at key spots?
 
Sim said:
I think upgrading the airport and doing packaged day trips to Western Plains Zoo (like they do to Australia Zoo from Sydney :eek: ) would be a great idea.

It might pay to make it a bit easier to get around the zoo for people on foot though ... perhaps a free regular shuttle bus that does the main loop stopping at key spots?
Click to expand...


Thats a very good idea Sim :D
 
Around the Zoo Shuttle

Sim,
A division of my company is hoping to do exactly what you said. we are yet to approach the zoo about this but have spoken to council and virgin blue. we are hoping to have a number of coaches with tour guides both travelling to and from the zoo and around the zoo. we are still trying to decide how to do this but our aim is to make it as accessible as possible to the general public. We are considering discussing with the zoo a shuttle pass system... where visitors can pay an extra $2 on top of their ticket and that provides them wth unlimited access to a shuttle that would stop at different sites around the zoo. the two dollars additional wouldn't cover the costs but that isn't something that bothers us too much. We will make it up elsewhere. We even considered special dubbo zoo weekend packages from sydney but it got too expensive for the public by the end. I'm not sure why the council isn't already running shuttles. they could charge $32p.p. (the average admission price) and still make a profit as there are discounts for groups.
 
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