In a turn of events that pretty much everyone saw coming, SeaWorld Entertainment has reported dismal attendance rates for the first half of the year.
The US theme park chain was under heavy pressure from local and global activists about the use of orcas after the release of huge anti-captivity documentary, ‘Blackfish’ – since it came out, the marine entertainment industry’s public image (particular SeaWorld‘s) has been in ruins.
The company tried a bunch of different methods in order to win back public favour (and spent a helluva lot of cash money), but the pressure proved too strong, and the park announced in March that the current generation of orcas would be the last they’d ever keep in captivity. They also announced that live orca shows would be phased out by 2017, which has already begun.
“SeaWorld has been listening and we’re changing. Society is changing and we’re changing with it.”
Now, the park is reporting woeful attendance numbers, and their stock is also nosediving.
SeaWorld‘s attendance has been slowly but steadily dropping since the release of ‘Blackfish’, but their numbers for the second quarter of 2016 was don by a whopping 494,000 guests – which is a 7.6% drop from the same quarter last year.
Following news of the park’s further attendance drops, the company’s stock fell 13.75%, which means over the past 2 years, the stock is now down over 50%.
Source: Business Insider.
