SeaWorld San Diego pulled in about 4.6 million visitors in 2013, and employs anywhere from 2,500 to 4,500 people depending on the time of year. The park also paid $14 million in rent to the city last year. These millions of tourists help fuel the San Diego economy, and local business are depending on the business that Sea World brings.

SeaWorld’s attendance is growing again after attendance drastically dropped due to the controversial 2013 documentary “Blackfish.” The documentary created a following of people advocating for SeaWorld to change their methods, and even some advocating for the park shutting down entirely. The result was the closing of the Shamu show and the park shifting its focus onto the theme aspect of their park. This documentary sparked protests from concerned citizens and costed the park millions.

Attendance of the park is expected to increase when their new roller coaster “ELETRIC EEL” opens up in summer of 2018. This is Sea World San Diego’s first looping roller coaster, which will attract a rush of crowds to this exciting theme park.

The money that sea world Sea world brings into its gates is about 110.1 million dollars annually. These millions of dollars go to the city of San Diego in the form of taxes. If you were to go to Sea World, you would travel through small towns and some “mom and pop shops” that are profiting majorly from all this attendance. These tourists want to have a full San D experience, which means going to theme parks, beaches and the small village shops.

Local tourism is affected by theme parks everywhere, especially when the parks are world renowned and have a reputation such as Sea World. Local business thrive off of this tourism. We have more business than ever popping up around not only Sea World but all theme parks.