Point Defiance Zoo attendance up last year   

By Mike Archbold; The News Tribune

In 2009, Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium lost two of its most popular attractions, belugas Qannik and Beethoven. It cut its hours to five days a week from seven from November to February, the first reduction since 2000. The adult admission price increased $2 for non-residents and $1 for residents. There were staff cuts.

Meanwhile, the local economy continued to tank, eating into family incomes and sales tax revenues on which the zoo relies. But no matter.

People apparently love their zoo and visited last year in big numbers. Point Defiance saw the highest total attendance in more than a decade, zoo officials announced this week.

General admission visitors plus the turnout for the annual holiday Zoolights Festival totaled 624,595. That’s a 1 percent increase over 2008 but, say zoo officials, worth crowing about in these tough economic times.

Northwest Trek near Eatonville, which, like the zoo, is part of the Tacoma Metro Parks District, posted its second highest attendance record in 10 years with 189,712 visitors.

Attendance is very important to the financial health of the zoo. Admissions now account for nearly 30 percent of its revenues, said Donna Powell, business and administrative service manager for the zoo.

THE NEWS TRIBUNE - A panoramic view of lumbering old Kenny, a 25-year-old polar bear, captures the attention of these children Thursday at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. Close encounters with nature's magnificent beasts are among many reasons the zoo set an attendance record the for the decade. From left: Jordan Jones, 4, of Federal Way; and Joaquin, 3, and Benicio Martinez, 16 months, of Federal Way.

Point Defiance’s attendance mirrors what is happening nationally, said Steve Feldman, a spokesman for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums which accredits 221 facilities such as Point Defiance.

“What we are hearing from around the country is that zoos and aquariums are very strong,” Feldman said. “People are being more frugal, staying close to homes. Zoos provide great value. They are close to home, are generation and affordable.” Several factors probably account for Point Defiance’s overall attendance increase, but they’re hard to measure, said Gary Geddes, director of zoological and environmental education for Metro Parks.

Easier to see was the effect of Zoolights, which finished its run Sunday. The holiday lights show was the main reason for the zoo’s record year, accounting for nearly 96,000 paying customers, more than 30,000 more than in 2008.

Even charging admission to zoo membership holders for the first time didn’t hurt the Zoolights’ crowds.

“Zoolights really pushed us over the top,” Geddes said. “After a difficult year, local families were looking for an inexpensive, but brilliant way to celebrate.”

And the weather was great. Christmas 2008 brought snow and ice and the festival of 500,000 plus lights was closed for eight days.

“We know weather is going to impact Zoolights,” said Point Defiance deputy director John Houck. “When it’s good we will have 90,000 visitors.”

ZOO FANS

Glenda Still, a zoo regular, was at Point Defiance on Thursday with her son, Benjamin, 5, and daughter, Alyssa, 3, to check out the reindeer.

Still, who lives in the Midland area of Pierce County, has watched the zoo grow and change since she came to the area in 1998. Her family has an annual membership and she said she understands the zoo’s appeal.

“The exhibits are all natural,” Still said. “And we like all the animals.”

A visit to Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo, Point Defiance’s main competitor, didn’t impress her.

“There was a lot of cement,” she said. “I like this a lot better.”

Over at the polar bear exhibit, Kenneth, a 25 year-old bear that has been at the zoo since 2002, was eating oranges tossed by a zoo staffer.

William and Felicia Martinez of Tumwater were there with their boys, Joaquim, 2, and Benecio, 1. They stared wide-eyed at the bear behind the thick viewing window a couple feet from their faces.

She said her sons get a lot of exposure to animals on DVDs but it’s great for them to see the real animals.

“There is always something to see here,” she said.

Besides, their dad said, “Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You See?” is one of their favorite books.

SALES TAX REVENUES DROP

The economy probably kept people closer to home looking for fun and recreation, but it also hurt the zoo’s sales tax-based revenues, Geddes said.

Half of the zoo’s budget – currently just under $10 million – used to come from local sales tax revenue. Sales of big ticket items such as cars and appliances took a big hit. The result was lower sales tax revenues.

Since 2008, Geddes said the zoo’s sales tax revenue has dropped 14 percent.

“It used to make up 50 percent of the revenues, now it is 36 percent,” he said. “The positive part is … we’ve started to see it rise again and recover those costs.”

As a result, he said, the zoo has budgeted a 1 percent increase in sales tax revenue for 2010.

“We are looking at the role of sales tax and earned income to see if we need to do something else,” Geddes said.

The difference between the 2008 and the 2009 budget was about $500,000 in expenditures.

“We’ve had to reduce our expenditures,” Geddes said. “Our budget is smaller.”

Last year, the zoo had no major exhibit openings to help spur attendance like it had between 2003 and 2007, thanks to the $35 million bond issue voters approved in 1999. The bond issue switched public funding for the zoo from property taxes to sales taxes.

During the mid-part of the decade, the zoo was flush.

It opened its nearly $10 million Asian Forest Sanctuary exhibit in 2005. The outdoor amphitheater theater was built for an animal show that changes every two years. The $7.4 two-phase Kids’ Zone play area with lemurs and meerkats exhibits as well as a petting zoo was completed in 2008.

BUDGIES AND CAMELS

Still, 2009 wasn’t without some change. The budgies flew in and became the main focus of the zoo’s advertising campaign during the summer. Visitors were able to enter an aviary and buy $1 seed sticks to feed the little parakeets.

The exhibit made about $50,000 to $55,000 on feed sticks and paid for its startup costs, Houck said.

In late October, the zoo unveiled its new Sumatran tiger named Bali to rave reviews and crowds. Bali makes three tigers in the zoo’s tiger breeding program.

Also a big hit last summer were the camel rides that generated more than $200,000. The zoo kept 35 percent of the money; the rest went to the camels’ owner. This year the zoo’s share rises to 40 percent.

Both budgies and camels will be back this year. But there’s a limit on such pay attractions, Powell said.

“It goes back to how much can we site,” she said. “The zoo doesn’t want to be one of those facilities where every time a customer goes around a corner we’re throwing another type of experience we want money for.”

DUCK, BIRD OR SHARK

Two-year-old Emma Rose sat at a table next to the Carousel building Thursday with her nanny Joanie Fulmore.

“It’s fun to look at the animals,” said Fulmore, 23. “It doesn’t get old to me.”

A male peacock stood close by eyeing the peanut butter sandwich Emma was chewing on. She is frequent visitor with her mom, at least twice month.

She knew what she wanted to be that day.

“Duck, bird, and shark,” she said.

___________________________________________________

The Virgin Islands, need I say more? Spending a week in the islands soaking up
the sun and enjoying the beach. Do you want to spend that week in a hotel or a
timeshare resort where everything is designed for your comfort and enjoyment. Forget the
stuffy hotel when you can enjoy gardens, sandy beaches, tennis courts and much
more. I have stayed in a lot of hotels and a resort is the only way to go when
you are on vacation. A vacation is a time to relax and enjoy so why not do it at
a timeshare resort.

Disclosure: This post is made possible by one of our sponsors.

Similar Posts:

• Point Defiance Zoo to close two days a week
• Tough times hit Tacoma’s Point Defiance Zoo
• Saint Louis Zoo breaks attendance record
• Tacoma zoo looks for answers after beluga stops eating
• Oregon Zoo breaks attendance record