SeaWorld Attendance Continues to Fall. What Can Be Done?

"Busch Gardens" Attendance Flat while SeaWorld's Falls.

With most theme park's attendance flat for 2016, Busch Gardens-branded parks do not seem to be slipping off, so why are they the ones that are always in the news to be sold? SeaWorld should be keeping the 'Busch' Parks and figuring out what they need to do to save SeaWorld-branded parks. SeaWorld keeps waiting for a turnaround when it's now apparent that it's not going to happen. Time to act now, if it's not already too late.

SeaWorld has begun to move toward attractions over exhibits in the past few years.

Foremost, it's time for SeaWorld to end captivity of killer whales.  This is a different time we're living in now vs. when they opened in the late 1960's. It's 2017. Time to release them into sea-pens and stop making the tank bigger in-park; otherwise news outlets will keep digging the hole deeper and deeper. It's a move that animal activists have been fighting for for years, and one that may finally end the list of lawsuits and picketing. The old phrase, "all press is good press," definitely does not apply in this case. (It's worth noting that Merlin, a large theme park and aquarium company based in Europe, does not participate in captivity. It seems that the USA and its companies are just getting further and further behind at staying ahead of the times, and Trump is not helping this case, but I won't go further off-topic than that.)

SeaWorld officials circulated a confidential spreadsheet titled "Lost Blackfish Revenue" nearly eight months before company executives told investors that the documentary was impacting revenue, emails show. -clickorlando

 It may be time for a company name change along with new policies to get the public to start seeing their side. SeaWorld is rehabilitating animals around the clock, but unfortunately the press is not focused on these things. A re-branding of all their parks is something they need to consider. I'm unsure if they're able to rename all their parks "Busch Gardens" due to licensing, but I think this would help immensely. 

Shamu shows have ended in California, but continue in Florida.

Correspondence reveals that a former SeaWorld official encouraged employees to manipulate a newspaper's online opinion poll about "Blackfish" the same week SeaWorld's former chief executive told that same newspaper the film was not affecting the company.

On the day musician Willie Nelson cancelled a concert at the marine park in 2013 over concerns about its treatment of killer whales, SeaWorld's former vice president of communications emailed a public relations colleague, "God, we look like idiots." -clickorlando

It also seems Sea World is in the news multiple times a month with job cuts and high-paying positions being replaced again and again. It's a mess that may be worse than we realize, yet they do still turn a profit. 

Time for SeaWorld to move into highly-themed attractions and rides, and away from captive Orca shows.

While I'm with SeaWorld's policy's and believe they are treating the animals with incredible love and care, it's time they kick it in gear and really make some major changes. They're just sitting around waiting too long for the public's view to change, while it clearly is not. What do you think, is it too late?