SeaWorld takes massive revenue blow amid pandemic; attendance begins to trend upward

ORLANDO, Fla. — The COVID-19 pandemic has hurt the pockets of businesses around the world, and according to a recent quarterly report, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment didn’t fare differently.

Attendance was reported at 300,000 guests across all SeaWorld properties for the second quarter, a decline of 6.2 million guests from the second quarter of 2019.

The company said the attendance decline in the quarter was largely due to the fact that all of the company’s parks were closed for the vast majority of the quarter, beginning in mid-March.

Read: ‘Floating cinema’ coming to Orlando in September

Total revenue for the company saw a steep decline at approximately $18 million, compared to $406 million in the second quarter of 2019.

Despite the hit in revenue for the quarter, the company said it is seeing positive trends in total attendance since reopening. The report said park attendance has increased 14% on a same park basis from the week of June 28, which is the first full week certain parks were allowed to reopen, to the most recent week ended July 26.

Attendance since reopening has ranged from 10 to 15 percent on slow days to 50 percent on better days, depending on the park and day.

Read: SeaWorld to require visitors, pass holders to register before visiting parks

SeaWorld officials said without self-imposed capacity limitations, attendance compared to 2019 would likely have exceeded 50% in some parks on certain days.

The company said that 2021 bookings for Discovery Cove are outpacing those from 2019 for 2020.

Read: SeaWorld CEO resigns days after company furloughs 90% of its employees amid coronavirus pandemic

Cox Media Group