and of course, whilst many of the enclosures are sub-standard there is a difference between cruelty and poor exhibitry. if there wasnt such a difference zoos like Melbourne with its grossly awful baboon enclosure would be closed too.
If there was a bias it was not admitted. The establishment and operating costs scared off the government. There may also have been some pressure applied from some other major animal exhibitors given their links to our state government, but that is only anecdotally inspired supposition.
just wondering ...... .... if they ( Alma park ) lowered the admission fee by , say , 20% . Would that encourage more people to visit it ? The entrance fee was a real extortion 5 years ago ! The other zoos in QLD were better value for money
they have annual passes, $75 for adults, $45 for children and $50 for pensioners; which is equal to the cost of about three visits. It would be interesting to know the ratio of tourists to locals that visit
$25 .00 for admission fee ?!? Realistically I would say that the zoo is worth a $5 entrance fee for what little there is to see there .....$25 would be a realistic figure for admission to Australia Zoo or Currimbin Sanctuary .... But all it currently takes is just 4 adults to visit and that is $100 for the zoo ! As it is promoted in all the tourist literature , there will be a steady trickle of visitors every day ..... 400 adult visitors will rake in $10 000 per day --- that wouldnt be hard to do in peak seasons .....
actually its $28!! (I was just rounding it to $75 being equal to the cost of three visits). I think $15 would be a fair enough price myself but no more than that. What's Australia Zoo entry cost though? Isn't it something like $60??!
fair dinkum! 60 bucks? What does it cost to get into the theme parks on the gold coast? How does Australia zoo compare?
I've been to a lot of zoos around Canada and the U.S. (as well as 14 in Australia) and nearly all the North American zoos charge about $15 on average for an entrance fee. Alma Park should be GIVING people money to walk around that place. I'm not sure how much GuZoo costs but that's another zoo that should be giving away free tickets.
Currumbin $32.00, Australia Zoo $52.00, Dreamworld (a theme park with tigers and an Aussie wildlife section) $66.00. Seems they all have a different idea what "realistic" is!
$66 dollars to get into dreamworld, **** me, thats a lot of money. i guess the admission price to Australia zoo is reasonable if you compare it to dream world, but for the average family with two adults and two kids, it's gunna be an expensive day. (sorry about the whinging. I must be getting old.)
this is starting to go off-topic, but for comparitive purposes, some NZ zoo and aquarium prices are as follows (in NZ dollars, and as of November 2007, so some will have gone up): Auckland Zoo $18 adult, $9 child Hamilton Zoo $12 adult, $6 child Wellington Zoo $15 adult, $7.50 child Orana Park $19 adult, $7 child Zion Wildlife Gardens (the Lion Man's zoo) $60 adult, $30 child Mt Bruce (National Wildlife Centre) $8 adult, under 17 yrs old free Natureland Zoo $5 adult, $2 child Rainbow Springs $24.50 adult, $14.50 child Willowbank $21 adult, $10.50 child Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World $29.50 adult, $14 child Napier Marineland $6 adult, $3 child Napier Aquarium $14.60 adult, $12.50 child
Melbourne Zoo is $23, Taronga $39. Of course government zoos receive a substantial subsidy, and also do not charge GST (so add 10% for a direct comparison). I think it fair to say attractions in vacation areas can charge more as people see it as a "once off treat", and also people on vacation are often more interested in value for their time, rather than money. That is they would rather spend more to get a "better" experience in the limited time available. On the last point I remember a small park years ago in Tasmania that charged 50c for admission, in the belief that it made them more accessible. They struggled with small numbers until they heard a couple at the gate discussing whether to come in - "it's only 50c, can't be worth it". They increased their admission to $2 and doubled their numbers! For the same reason discounting prices (ie 10% off with this voucher, etc) rarely brings additional visitors. People want value for their limited leisure time, and money (within reason) is less of an issue.
$23 for Melbournes ( generally excellent ) zoo vs $27 for lacklustre Alma Park ? Give me Melbourne zoo any day , even if the pricings were reversed . Alma Park Zoo has got its head in the sand when it comes to admission prices . You can see it all ( Alma Park ) in about one hour !
What's Alma Park Zoo been up to lately? Is the Sun Bear still alive? I haven't heard much out of this place in a while. Any new exhibits?
