Chester Zoo - Record Breaking August

This August has been the busiest in the Chester zoo’s 70-year history. With more than 250,000 visitors Chester Zoo has had one one of the busiest years.

Chester Zoo is holder of the Visit Chester and Cheshire Large Visitor Attraction of the Year award for two years running - and the Zoo has continued to attract high numbers of UK holiday visitors despite the dismal weather that this British summer has offered.
Chester Zoo’s Marketing Manager Sharon Leeson said: “... From the word go this year, we have enjoyed bumper figures. In terms of visitor numbers, we are well ahead of where we were this time last year and we will shortly welcome our millionth visitor. The zoo continues to go from strength to strength and we’d like to say thank you to all the visitors who make our success possible.”

2007 has been an exciting year for the zoo with new exhibits and visitor facilities - Realm of the Red Ape, a new ‘world class’ £3 million home for the Zoo’s endangered Sumatran and Bornean orang-utans opened in the Spring and the main entrance was transformed with landscaping, a wheelchair and buggy hire facility, new guest services area, and improvements to the Ark Shop.

The focus over the coming months will be on the zoo’s second Frost Fair which gets underway on November 16.
Frost Fair runs until January 13 and will bring an ice rink almost twice the size of last year’s, a Lapland Journey to meet Santa, retail and catering stalls, costume characters, a bandstand with entertainment and a festive carousel to the zoo.

“Last year frost fair brought an added dimension to the zoo and gave it fresh appeal at a time when we would otherwise be quieter. This year’s event promises to be a show stopper and we’re looking forward to welcoming many more visitors,” added Sharon.