Chris Moiser remarks on the article below:
“The report is a little bit more negative than we were actually feeling – as ever with these things the reporter got it slightly wrong….
“We do need more visitors, but within weeks we should hopefully have some new coatis, some adult African sulcata (giant – but not as big as Aldabran) tortoises and some Scottish Wild Cats. I’ve got baby wallabies, potoroos, loads of birds on eggs, full incubators and we are breeding many fish too.”
Also BCIB as well as our annual conference will now be holding a yearly filed trip. Starting off at Tropiquaria we intend to visit several of the souths big cat ‘hotspots’ Dartmoor, Bodmin etc. thenend back up at Tropiquaria. If anyone is intersted in more details email bigcatsinbritain@btinternet.com
Tropiquaria faces uncertain future
9:18am Thursday 11th June 2009
ONE of West Somerset’s premier tourist attractions could be forced to close if it fails to get enough visitors through its doors this summer.
Tropiquaria owner Chris Moiser issued the grim warning as he revealed projected visitor numbers of up to 70,000 a year had plummeted as low as 40,000 due to the recession.
Chris, who took over the Washford Cross animal park in 2007 with business partner Jane Bassett, said the worst-case scenario would be running out of money by February 2010.
He said: “There is a potential risk we could close if we don’t get the visitor numbers over the summer. It’s the same with any other zoo – if you don’t use it, you lose it.
“We have personal guarantees so if we went under we would lose everything.”
But Chris said he was beginning to feel more confident about the zoo’s future as visitor numbers rose this quarter.
“Our visitor figures for this week are double compared to the same period last year.
“We could get depressed and panicky but we’re not because we think the tide is turning.
“It’s not as if we are running down – we are increasing our animal numbers all the time.
“It is a tough economic climate at the moment but we are moving from worried to less worried. It’s a watch this space job.”
However Malcolm Bell, Director of South West Tourism, said optimism that the 2009 summer will be a bumper year may be misplaced.
He said: “Even if we do get reasonable numbers of displaced visitors, they may just replace losses from loyal customers who cannot visit due to reduced incomes from savings, or lower earnings because they have lost their jobs.”
Chris said other zoos would take in Tropiquaria’s animals if it went under.
Filed under: General BCIB News
