SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment reports declines in attendance and revenue for second quarter
Posted
Stung by disappointing attendance at its parks in Orlando and San Diego, SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. said Wednesday it will continue battling controversy over its captive killer whales as it makes new investments in its attractions. Overall attendance at the company's 11 parks increased just 0.3 percent. Visitors shelled out less money too, despite SeaWorld's strategy of pursuing revenue growth through per-guest spending. Revenue dropped to $405.2 million from $411.3 million.
Read more from The Orlando Sentinel.
People are fickle and will forget once Blackfish is forgotten.
By the time the second quarter started, the worst of the Blackfish nonsense was behind them (though they really waited too long to address it head-on). Personally, I think they're pricing the Orlando park entirely wrong. I enjoy it and all, but it's not the same caliber as Universal or Disney, so I think pricing it the same is totally the wrong thing to do. (Disclaimer: While I did work there on a contract basis, I didn't have access to any data or information that would back up that opinion.)
Still, the alarm and concern seems to lose context. The company is still enormously profitable. This is hardly the end of the world.
Jeff - Editor - CoasterBuzz.com - My Blog
Good heavens, what will SeaWorld do with its "unpaid performers"?
Maybe I'm missing something. Activists want SeaWorld's "unpaid performers" retired to sea pens or netted off bays or coves, they wouldn't be allowed to breed, they'd continue to be trained, for "veterinary procedures" -- and wouldn't the animals still have to be fed? I can't imagine sufficient quantities of fish would be swimming into the pens.
I'm not seeing a great difference between the two environments, aside from the soothed passions of the activists.
Life is something that happens when you can't get to sleep.
--Fran Lebowitz
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