Good point and higher prices seem a reasonable/fair strategy when numbers are steady or rising. However I sometimes get the suspicion that some places try to keep income constant by increasing prices steeply to compensate for falling visitor numbers, a reasonable short-term strategy perhaps but a little dangerous as it has potential to alienate and put off visitors in the longer term (resulting in less overall income regardless of high prices).
The new Anthony Sheridan book is close to 500 pages of information on 115+ European zoos and the attendance figures have naturally changed since I began this thread almost 3 years ago. Of note is that in the new book Sheridan has a detailed chapter all about the "Top 3" zoos on the continent (Vienna, Leipzig and Zurich) and then "Two Rising Stars" in the shape of Beauval and Pairi Daiza. The recent attendance figures for those two zoos are nothing short of astonishing! Beauval (France) 2010 - 585,000 2011 - 650,000 2012 - 1,025,000 2013 - 975,000 2014 - 975,000 2015 - 1,100,000 Pairi Daiza (Belgium) 2010 - 735,000 2011 - 840,000 2012 - 1,000,000 2013 - 1,300,000 2014 - 1,460,000 2015 - 1,860,000 How do zoos cope with such explosive popularity? Has there been massive construction for pathways, washrooms, restaurants, cafes, gift shops, etc.? Also of note is that Wroclaw (Poland) had almost 2 million visitors in 2015, making this once relatively low-key facility one of the most popular zoos in Europe. The Afrykarium has boosted the zoo's attendance into the stratosphere.
I have been in Wroclaw and Pairi Daiza and both seems quite packed on busy days. In Wroclaw I have seen long queues for the Afrykarium and in Pairi Daiza it is not much fun to visit it together with 25.000 other people. So even though both zoos seem to manage it does has impact on the visitor experience.
Not yet mentioned: how would either of the Paris zoos rank on here? I'd be surprised if the JdP does not receive 1 million+ visitors a year, and Vincennes surely gets its fair share also.
JdP had 650.000 visitors in 2014, while Vincennes had 915.000 visitors last year (2015). Prague will get around 1,45 - 1,5 million this year. For Moscow, I can find only vague numbers like 4 million in daily press.
Attendance in Russian zoos : Moscow 2.565.000 (I think they counted only paying visitors) Novosibirsk 890.912 + 695.269 non-paying St. Petersburg 762.508 Yekaterinburg 716.000 (they say it is the most crowded zoo in the world because its area is 2,7 ha only) Krasnoyarsk 711.401 St. Petersburg Oceanarium 600.00 Izhevsk 576.758 So it’s only seven zoos with more than half million visitors in Russia. For comparison most visited zoos in other former soviet cities: Ukraine - Kyiv 576.233 Belarus - Minsk 810.243 Caucasus - Yerevan 296.000 Central Asia - Almaty 472.076 Tashkent 282.400
The only two Polish zoos with attendance figure over 0,5 mio last year were: Wroclaw 1.888.587 (only 861.963 in year 2014) Warszawa 669.488 (683.525 in year 2014) For Hungary, I found only 1 zoo over 0,5 mio: Budapest - slightly over 1.000.000