ORLANDO, Fla. — SeaWorld Entertainment’s revenue and attendance at its parks remain down as the company works to recover from the financial impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
What You Need To Know
- SeaWorld releases 4th quarter, fiscal 2020 earnings results
- Company still feeling the financial hit from the pandemic
- Attendance was down but not as significantly as previous quarter
- SeaWorld hopes to have all 12 parks open for 2021 operating season
On Thursday, SeaWorld released earning results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2020.
Although the report shows SeaWorld is making improvements, the company still has a ways to go.
For the quarter, revenue was $154 million, a decline of $144 million or 48%. Total revenue for the year was $431.8 million, down $966.5 million from 2019.
SeaWorld also experienced a decline in attendance at its parks. For the fourth quarter, the company said it had 2.2 million visitors, down 53% from same period in 2019. Overall, for the year, attendance was just 6.4 million visitors, down 72% from 2019.
The company reported a net loss of $45.5 million for the quarter and $312 million for the year.
In-park per capita spending increased mostly because of higher prices, expanded offerings, and the variety of merchandise and food and beverage items, according to the report.
At some of its parks, SeaWorld held modified seasonal events designed to attract visitors. In an earnings call, interim CEO Marc Swanson said the company was pleased with the results from those events.
“Our fourth quarter results demonstrated continued operational improvement and financial stability as we continue to navigate through these extraordinary times,” Swanson said in a statement. “Guests showed a continuing desire and interest to visit our parks, especially during our Halloween and Christmas events.”
SeaWorld currently has eight of its 12 parks open, including SeaWorld Orlando, Aquatica Orlando, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, SeaWorld San Antonio, and SeaWorld San Diego. The company plans to have all of its parks open for its full 2021 operating seasons.
SeaWorld didn’t provide any updates on Ice Breaker at SeaWorld Orlando or Iron Gwazi at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. Both attractions were originally expected to open in 2020 before the pandemic hit. The timeline for those attractions was moved to 2021, but no specific dates have been announced.
For now, both attractions are listed as “anticipated opening 2021.”
SeaWorld did say it's working on a new mobile app that will allow visitors to order via mobile. The app is expected to be ready sometime this year.
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