There’s no doubt about it, Calgarians loved visiting the zoo in 2023.

On Tuesday, Dr. Clément Lanthier, President and CEO of the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo said that they had 1.54 million visitors last year, breaking a more than 90-year-old record.

“We’re humbled by the trust our community places in us to provide a safe, fun space to learn and explore,” he said in a prepared media release.

Those numbers were backed up by some other records set by the zoo, with 642 private events held and 112 weddings, making for the busiest non-visitor attraction year in the organization’s history.

The Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo also hosted more than 38,000 students and 2,250 youth in day camps throughout the year.

Much of the success, said Jamie Dorgan, Chief Operating Officer for the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo, came about as a result of a “perfect storm” of opportunities for visitors.

Chief among them was the better-than-average weather throughout last year that drove interest in outdoor activities, he said.

“We definitely have to give credit to the weather. It was a great year for our zoo experience, with great opportunities pretty much every long weekend, and through the the early parts of this winter for people looking to have an outdoor experience,” Dorgan said.

Visitor destination of choice

Dorgan said that the zoo has also been proud of its reputation as a visitor destination, which also contributed to the record-breaking numbers.

The zoo was a recipient of a 2023 Traveler’s Choice Award from Trip Advisor, which is awarded to destinations that have consistent high-volume, high-quality, high-ranked reviews on Trip Advisor.

“We’re obviously pretty proud of our penetration in Calgary as it is, and the number of visitors that we do regularly get year after year. We take a lot of pride in that, and we think that a lot of that is just our reputation that was built over time and the great experience we offer, but obviously 2023 was an exception,” Dorgan said.

He said that although the final results from surveys done on visitors aren’t yet available, summer months had a roughly 50-50 mix of out-of-town visitors and locals visiting the zoo, with that number being lower in the colder shoulder season.

The interest in general post-pandemic experiences seen across the tourism industry, like at the Calgary Stampede, helped to bolster those visitor numbers he said.

“I think our main support is still coming from our local population and the fact that we continue to create those great experiences, but also creating new, exciting opportunities like WildScapes in the summer, and with polar bears returning to the zoo and the excitement that’s created.”

“And then of course ZooLights opening in November, had fantastic numbers this year as well. That’s a great tradition for so many Calgarians, and the weather was so great this year, probably people visiting multiple times as well.”

Visitor dollars translate into conservation dollars

The record number of visitors has also helped the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo’s ability to run local conservation programs, and to provide financial support to global conservation efforts.

“Every dollar counts for all the important things that we’re doing here, and conservation, of course, is our is our most critical thing. It’s our reason to be here,” said Dorgan.

“We do commit a certain amount of money for conservation programs every year no matter what, but this gives us the opportunity to reflect and say, ‘you know, can we move forward quicker with certain things, and can we expand on some of those programs.'”

Increased visitor counts also meant more opportunities to reach visitors with that conservation message at the zoo itself, he said.

“When they come, they understand how important it is, what they’re contributing by coming to the zoo, but also continuing to educate those schoolchildren and visitors daily about the things that they can do in their world to continue to help conservation as well,” Dorgan said.

Among the stats for 2023, the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo was able to release their 100th burrowing owl into the wild in Canada and were able to support the Wechiau Community Hippo Sanctuary, which saw 55 wild hippos in 2023—a record for that sanctuary.

Looking ahead to 2024

The Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo isn’t expecting to see quite as many visitors in 2024, but they are cautiously optimistic about the momentum from 2023 continuing into the new year.

“People are feeling like they can be more comfortable coming in to the zoo year round. And with species like the polar bears, they want to come see them in the winter—and should come see them in the winter—because it’s a super cool experience to see polar bears and tigers and those types of animals out here in the winter,” said Dorgan.

The expectations for visitors, he said, would be entirely based on the weather like it was in 2023.

“We’re absolutely expecting to continue to be able to maintain the momentum that was started. What those final numbers look like, I think we’re being a little more cautious in our planning for what that might be because the weather does impact us,” Dorgan said.

“If we have another great year with good weather and on long weekends and everything else, there’s nothing saying we can’t be meeting similar numbers, and continue to push forward and be able to do that great conservation work.”