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Top 30 European Zoos: Attendance

Discussion in 'Europe - General' started by snowleopard, 18 Mar 2014.

  1. Shorts

    Shorts Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    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).
     
  2. snowleopard

    snowleopard Well-Known Member 15+ year member Premium Member

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    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.
     
  3. DDcorvus

    DDcorvus Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    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.
     
  4. Jana

    Jana Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    I would love to see a new list of most visited european zoos. With 2015 or 2016 figures.
     
  5. Coelacanth18

    Coelacanth18 Well-Known Member Premium Member 5+ year member

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    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.
     
  6. Jana

    Jana Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    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.
     
  7. Arek

    Arek Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    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
     
  8. Jana

    Jana Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    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