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SeaWorld attendance down 13.8 million from last year, but CEO says things are improving

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ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — SeaWorld said things are improving despite announcing Thursday that it lost more than $79 million in the third quarter.

The interim CEO and CFO both said despite capacity limits since opening back up in June followings its pandemic shutdown, more people are visiting the parks and spending more money during their visits.

READ: ‘Inside Look’: SeaWorld Orlando to give guests behind-the-scenes look at animal care facilities

Attendance is still down — 13.8 million guests compared to the first nine months of 2019. But interim CEO Marc Swanson said things are looking up, with attendance improving steadily since reopening with pandemic measures like face coverings and social distancing markers.

“Multiple parks hit capacity limitations on several days throughout the quarter and into October, meaning demand for these parks exceeded our available capacity on these days and if the park was not constrained on these days its performance versus the prior year would have been better than what was realized,” Swanson said.

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He said Halloween events were particularly helpful and the company hopes Christmas events, which will kick off next week at some parks, will also draw people.


Sarah Wilson

Sarah Wilson, WFTV.com

Sarah Wilson joined WFTV Channel 9 in 2018 as a digital producer after working as an award-winning newspaper reporter for nearly a decade in various communities across Central Florida.

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