Ticket to ride: Theme park details thinking behind restart

SeaWorld Entertainment Inc., the parent company of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and Adventure Island, suffered mightily during the COVID-19 shutdown. According to its first quarter financial report, revenue dropped by $67 million, or 30.4%, to $153.6 million, compared to the first quarter of 2019. That resulted in a net loss of $19.5 million. 

The loss, predictably, was driven by plunging attendance — some 1 million fewer people visited the company’s parks during the first quarter of 2020 compared to the same time period last year.

‘Every aspect of the business, we've dissected. We've had to reconfigure many areas of our park.’ Stewart Clark, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay