Zoo bid to cash in on our wonders

Adelaide Zoo has the southern hemisphere's only giant pandas. Picture: Chris Mangan Source: National Features

• TELL US: Will this campaign prove successful?

ZOOS SA wants to join forces with tourism operators from the Fleurieu Peninsula and the River Murray in a new campaign aimed at luring tens of thousands of interstate and international visitors.

In an interview with The Advertiser, Zoos SA chief executive Elaine Bensted has outlined a vision to offer package deals combining Monarto Zoo and Adelaide Zoo with iconic South Australian tourism destinations as part of her bid to boost admission numbers at both sites.

Ms Bensted has revealed she will meet with SA Tourism Commission chief executive Rodney Harrex in July to seek support for her vision to embrace several tourism experiences in the state.

"If we want to attract interstate tourists to (Monarto) we need to work with other people in the region to sell a package of reasons to come ... because it's hard to promote just one place," she said.

"If you're from Victoria or New South Wales, to spend a day doing the beautiful wineries around the Fleurieu, then a day at Monarto with a really nice dinner somewhere and then a day out on the River Murray - it's a really nice package."

Senior keeper Karen Davis and education officer Claire Peterson with rare golden southern hairy nosed wombats Icy and Polar at Cleland Wildlife Park. Picture: Watkinson Tricia

Ms Bensted - who has been in the top job since September - said she was starting to work more closely with regional tourism providers and councils in order to offer greater incentives to attract people to both zoos.

"It's about working closely with community, industry partners, local government and other state agencies so we can come up with a proposal that is cost effective ... to deliver and have a much greater reach (to international and interstate market)," she said. "(It's about) being smarter about your marketing."

Ms Bensted has already conducted several talks with Regional Development Australia Murraylands and Riverland Chief Executive Brenton Lewis, to discuss ways of enhancing tourism in Monarto Zoo's Murraylands region.

Mr Lewis said he threw his full support behind Zoos SA and the marketing venture.

Visitors at Remarkable Rocks, Kangaroo Island. Picture: Dylan Coker

"There isn't currently a lot of that happening ... (Monarto) Zoo would be the anchor tourism destination and from that you're leveraging other opportunities," he said.

"What Elaine (Bensted) is attempting to do is multiply the tourism dollar coming into the area ... the tourist might then go on and do other things within the region."

While Adelaide Zoo numbers are steady - it has recorded about 300,000 visitors so far this financial year - Ms Bensted believes she can do better.

"I'd like to get 400,000 at Adelaide (Zoo)," she said.

A houseboat takes a leisurely cruise down the River Murray. Picture: Ian Greenwood

Ms Bensted said about 100,000 tourists visited Adelaide Zoo annually.

"Would I like to do more? Yes, I still think we can," she said. "If you look at Adelaide over the last 15 years it has averaged about 350,000 visitors a year ... then there was a peak when the pandas first arrived (when) it got closer to 500,000 visitors for about an 18-month period."

Ms Bensted said she believed there was a "real potential" for growth at Monarto Zoo.

So far this financial year, about 90,000 visitors have gone through the gates.

A baby seal at Seal Bay Conservation Park. Picture: Chanel Parrat

Last year, Monarto had 100,000 visitors, but Ms Bensted said she hoped to lift attendances to 130,000 people in the future.

She said there was a common perception between South Australians that Monarto Zoo was actually further from the city than what it actually was.

A spokeswoman from the SA Tourism Commission said the organisation would not comment on future marketing initiatives until the meeting with Zoos SA in July.

View the original article here