Revenue from museum & zoo crosses 1 crore

Thiruvananthapuram: The revenue collection in the museum and zoo, which was badly hit by Covid-19, bounced back to normal with the authorities recording Rs 1 cr collection in two-and-a-half months.
Peak turnout during the festive season brought good money for the museum and zoo as the daily collection, which hovered around Rs 1-2 lakh, jumped to Rs 4 lakhs towards the last week of December.The authorities recorded a cumulative collection of Rs 1.01 crore by the end of December.
“In 2020, for an entire year we could collect only Rs 1.4 crore. This year, we crossed 1 crore in just around 50 days,” museum and zoo director said Abu S.
The revenue collection from parking also increased considerably with many visitors opting for private vehicles and parking of vehicles on museum compounds yielded good revenue. With RKV Road being closed for parking as part of Smart City works, the museum compound was the much sought after parking zone for many visitors.
While the city zoo is the favoured spot for visitors, natural history museum and museum gallery also gained from the visits to the city zoo.
The zoo and museum were reopened in October. In October last week, the daily collection from the art gallery, the museum and the zoo had picked up from Rs 64,310 to Rs 1,69,075 in less than a week. In November, the collection has more or less been steady between 90,000-1 lakh and there were a few days when it crossed Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs 3 lakh.
Group visits from educational institutions had been a major source of revenue for the museum and zoo. Owing to Covid-19, such visits from schools and other states have been completely halted.
The renovated natural history museum, which was reopened for public in January 2021, is drawing attention from visitors. The museum was equipped with attractive and informative display systems and the project was completed at a cost of Rs 6 crore.