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Publication: The Miami Herald; Date: Apr 25, 2011; Section: Business; Page: 16G Survival of the funnest With Groupons, reality TV shows and regular old expansion plans, South Florida attractions are finding ways to lure in customers and succeed post-recession.

BY HANNAH SAMPSON [email protected]

Hard to tell here in Old Florida — where water buffalo roam, airboats whiz by and swamp buggies carry dozens of tourists through the marsh — but something new is afoot at Billie Swamp Safari.

The 2,200-acre park on the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation has tweaked its advertising, reached out for the first time to well-heeled Naples residents and softened its image. Deep in the swamps off Alligator Alley, the safari is positioning itself as an adventure destination that’s safe for the kids and grandparents alike.And then there’s the way it gets the message out.

“Instead of $70,000 on a billboard, we spend it on Facebook,” said Brian Zepeda, director of Florida Seminole tourism. “We do Groupon now, we do all kinds of things.”

After weathering the economic freefall, attractions throughout the state are adapting to a new leisure landscape and finding ways to thrive – or just keep surviving. As summer approaches, South Florida attractions are turning to daily deal websites to drum up business, adding more interactive experiences and investing in additions to generate interest from tourists and turn locals into regulars.

For some, those efforts are paying off; others are still in search of a magic bullet.

At Billie Swamp Safari, social media and reality TV are winners.

The Seminole-owned attraction is active on Facebook and Twitter; a Groupon offer back in January sold 1,174 half-price day passes, delighting park promoters. Even more surprising is the production crew that trails employees as they master the skill of buggy driving or transport a mean- spirited gator for the third season of Swamp Men, a reality show on the Nat Geo Wild cable channel that details the work of the park’s employees. At least 10 to 20 percent of visitors can be directly related to the show, said marketing and promotional coordinator Melissa Sherman — including, recently, New Jersey residents Tyler and Joanne Levine.

Tyler Levine had visited the park when he used to live in West Palm Beach, but his wife had never been. Both watched the TV show, which first started airing last year, and wanted to visit on vacation.

One recent day, they stared out at the swampland in between buggy and airboat rides and listed their stops so far in Florida: Kennedy Space Center, Daytona International Speedway, Fort Lauderdale.

“I’m doing everything she’s never done before,” Tyler Levine said. “All the tourist traps.”

Statewide, average attendance at those tourist spots has been basically flat for the past two years. This spring, signs indicate a pick-up in business, said Bill Lupfer, president and CEO of the Florida Attractions Association. That’s a relative triumph, considering the economy’s downward spiral, but one that comes with a bite out of revenue as visitors spend less on trinkets commemorating their adventure.

Lupfer declined to release any economic impact data for the association’s 95 attraction members, but attractions make up a key part of the state’s more than $60 billion tourism industry.

Earlier this month, Walt Disney World released a study that said its parks and related businesses in Florida generate more than $18 billion a year in economic activity — a level some of the state’s smaller attractions could only dream of. But an increase in Disney’s worldwide theme park revenues — up 25 percent in the first quarter of 2011 — is an encouraging sign for all.

Lupfer said the trend among attractions across Florida has been to plan expansions, build additions and undergo major renovations to draw the tourists who are traveling now — and those who will surely start spending again soon.

“Consumers are more demanding, more savvy than ever,” he said. “The information is at their fingertips and attraction members are having to work diligently to stay a step ahead of the consumers.”

At Zoo Miami, formerly known as Miami Metrozoo, a $50 million addition coincided with the onset of the recession – and cushioned the blow. “Amazon and Beyond’’ opened in late 2008 and the number of visitors jumped more than 33 percent, to 810,000, in 2009. To the surprise of zoo officials, attendance increased again slightly in 2010.

“I think what we have come to believe is that we’ve established a new base for the zoo,” said Zoo Miami director Eric Stephens. “We’re no longer a 600,000 institution that had a spike. We’re an 800,000 institution. We don’t believe we’re going to go back to that 600,000 number.”

And they’re busy making sure that prediction comes true. This summer, the zoo will open a petting yard and “Wacky Barn,” followed by a new amphitheater in December to replace the one damaged in Hurricane Katrina and a new wet and dry playground. Those additions have a total estimated cost of more than $7 million.

Farther down the road: A Florida Everglades-themed addition is expected to open in 2014 or 15 at a cost expected to top $40 million — even though the real thing is just a few miles away.

The zoo, owned and operated by Miami-Dade County with fundraising support from the Zoological Society of Florida, is also seeking a builder- http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODE/MiamiHerald/PrintComponentView.htm 4/25/2011 Page 2 of 6

operator for a water park on the property.

For an attraction that draws 80 percent of its visitors from the local region, such changes are essential to keep guests coming back. Even though tourists make up less than a quarter of the business, Benjamin Pingree, the Zoological Society’s new president and chief executive, said those visitors drop an average of $250 million in the community during their stay every year, citing research by the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau.

The Museum of Discovery and Science in Fort Lauderdale is hoping its own major overhaul will produce the same effect as the zoo’s. Following a $25 million fundraising campaign, the museum will open a new EcoDiscovery Center in November. The new area will include a two-story river otter exhibit, simulated airboat ride, storm center with a hurricane experience and prehistoric area featuring full-sized replicas of long-gone creatures.

Kim Cavendish, the museum’s president and chief executive, hopes the addition will help continue positive momentum: After dipping during the recession, attendance was up more than 16 percent during the last fiscal year with 456,000 visitors.

For the first time, the Fort Lauderdale museum is participating in a deal with three other attractions — Zoo Miami, Miami Seaquarium and Lion Country Safari in Palm Beach County — that charges about $55 for unlimited admission to each between May 15 and Sept. 30.

“We think it’s a way to experiment with introducing ourselves to Miami and Palm Beach,” Cavendish said. Only about 27 percent of the museum’s visitors are from outside Broward County.

Cavendish said the muse um’s success stems from its unique offerings — but there is still plenty of competition for visitors’ attention right down the road.

“Do we pray for rain?” she said. “Yes, to drive tourists off the beach and into our doors.”

Smaller attractions are also growing or getting facelifts. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden just received a $4 million donation to build a new cultural facility for music and art presentations. And nearly 100-year-old Vizcaya Museum and Gardens is in the midst of a restoration.

Miami Seaquarium on KeyBiscaynehas no major capital changes in store, but the park is introducing a new dive experience this July, called Sea Trek. For $99, people who want to be surrounded by sea creatures can put on a helmet that has a continuous flow of air and walk through a 15-foot pool, currently the reef aquarium.

“Getting people closer to our animals is the future of our business,” said Andrew Hertz, the park’s executive vice president and general manager. “I have said for the last eight years or so that anything new I add to the park has to have an interac tive component to it or I’m wasting my time.”

The Seaquarium, which last underwent renovations in 2004 and 2005 following significant damage from Hurricane Wilma, added a stingray touch pool two years ago. In 2007, the park opened the $5 million Dolphin Harbor area, where dolphin interactions range from $139 to touch, feed and play with dolphins in shallow water to $495 for the new “trainer for the day” program..

The park estimates that it had a $16.65 million economic impact to the area during the last fiscal year, including taxes, employee payroll and rent.

Hertz wouldn’t release attendance figures, but said numbers typically bounce around in the 500,000-700,000 range. During the recession, that bounce was on the downside as numbers began to decline in 2009 and dropped another five percent in 2010. Revenues dropped too in 2010, the first time that happened in several years, though Hertz said the first quarter of 2011 started to show promise.

“We are everyone’s discretionary dollars. No one

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JOE RIMKUS JR./MIAMI HERALD STAFF

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SOUTH FLORIDA’S WILD SIDE: Tourists pass an ostrich and wild boar as they rumble through the Everglades on a swamp buggy at Billie Swamp Safari.

AL DIAZ/THE MIAMI HERALD STAFF

GREAT APES: Twin six-year-old orangutan sisters gather eggs during an Easter egg hunt at Jungle Island. The park is home to many exotic animals including a rare liger.

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TIM CHAPMAN/TIM CHAPMAN

MAKING A SPLASH: Robert Rose, trainer and curator at Miami Seaquarium on Key Biscayne, amazes an audience as he works with Lolita the Killer Whale.

MARICE COHN BAND/MIAMI HERALD STAFF

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: Children feed giraffes at Zoo Miami’s African Plains exhibit. The zoo is now planning an Everglades-themed exhibit set to open in 2014-15. Attractive savings

Local attractions are still trying to sweeten the deal as high tourist season winds down. Here are a few of them:

• Summer Savings Pass: Unlimited admission to Lion Country Safari, Miami Seaquarium, Museum of Discovery and Science and Zoo Miami from May 15-Sept. 30. $54.95 for adults and $44.95 for kids age 3-12. Information at www.summersavingspass.com.

• Super Summer Savings in Greater Fort Lauderdale: 2-for-1 admission from May 1-Sept. 30 at attractions including Butterfly World, Flamingo Gardens, Billie Swamp Safari, Sawgrass Recreation Park and Museum of Discovery and Science. Information at www.sunny.org/supersummer.

• Miami Attractions Month: Discounts at various Miami-Dade attractions from Oct. 1-31. Information will be updated at www.everyonesakid.com.

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MARICE COHN BAND/MIAMI HERALD STAFF

NEED A LIFT? Gabriella Roque, left, 7, and sister, Veronica, 5, smile for their mom, Natalie Roque, of South Miami, as they ride a camel at Zoo Miami.

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