Wildlands Adventure Zoo suffered a loss of three million euros in 2019
Translated by Matthijs van Houten
In the past year, the zoo in Emmen received 930,000 visitors, but still lost money, as reported by RTV Drenthe.
For the year of 2018 the zoo loss 8.5 million euros. A loss of 4.8 million euros was expected for 2019, so the park’s management is satisfied with the eventual definitive figures.
The loss was limited by an increase in the number of subscription holders (from 30,000 to 33,000). The zoo also did better than expected in saving money.
The original expansion of Wildlands assumed at least 1.2 million annual visitors. Apart from the opening year, those numbers were never achieved. The targets have therefore been adjusted.
Many visitors fed back that they thought that there were not enough animals in the park, which also has a roller coaster. Wildlands is now trying to show animals in more places: for example, there will be a sea aquarium and a large bird enclosure opened, whilst the theater in the jungle will be adjusted and new animal species will be added. Schools will also soon be able to attend biology lessons in Nortica.
Ultimately, that should lead to more visitors and fewer losses. For 2020 the zoo expects a loss of 1.5 million euros, but from 2021 Wildlands should return to profit.
Image via Wikimeda user Sijtze Reurich. License here.
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