Phil Blair, Manpower

China will be sending two pandas to the San Diego Zoo, possibly as soon as this summer, five years after Beijing took the beloved creatures out of San Diego.

Pandas had become part of the city's image, most notably, a big plot point of the San Diego-based film “Anchorman.” Panda pictures often graced T-shirts and postcards promoting the region.

Pandas first took San Diego by storm in 1987 when two pandas stayed for 200 days. The pandas were a sensation, drawing more than 2 million visitors, the zoo said. The zoo has not provided new estimates of what pandas returning to San Diego could mean for ticket sales.

While pandas will surely be a hit for the zoo, it is unclear how much of an impact their return would have on the wider tourism industry. Right now, the only U.S. zoo with pandas is in Atlanta.

Q

Will pandas returning to San Diego Zoo have a notable impact on the tourism industry?

Kelly Cunningham, San Diego Institute for Economic Research

NO >>Even as iconic symbols the pandas represent for the San Diego Zoo, it is difficult to envision them having that much impact on the visitor industry overall. Undoubtedly helping raise San Diego's profile is beneficial as a travel destination for national and international awareness, but there are many more aspects to San Diego's $23.5 billion visitor industry. Economic circumstances, costs of travel and competing events will have far more significance on the overall performance of the industry.

Lynn Reaser, economist

YES >> The return of the pandas will be another quiver tourist officials will have in their arrow kit to sponsor San Diego. They can print new postcards and T-shirts to promote the region. San Diego's world-class zoo is already a reason to visit the region and its panda attraction will be a special asset only matched by Atlanta and potentially

Panda Bai Yun, 27, walks through her enclosure at the San Diego Zoo on April 16, 2019, which was the last time the animals were at the zoo. China and the zoo recently announced they will be making a return, probably this summer.

Washington, D.C. The pandas will add to the 30.5 million people who visited San Diego in 2023.

YES >> I understand a city's tourism industry needs a new attraction every five years to entice visitors back. The pandas will be a perfect example of that. We can't keep depending on the weather and the beach or attractions that have been here for many years.

Alan Gin, University of San Diego

NO >> It will help the zoo in terms of attendance but will likely only have a marginal impact on the overall visitor industry. San Diego is already a strong destination in terms of leisure travel and the presence of the pandas will probably not sway many people to visit who weren't already planning to do so. It's possible that some may extend their stays and add the zoo to their itinerary, but it is more likely that they will forgo some other local attraction instead.

Bob Rauch, R.A. Rauch Associates

YES >>

Pandas are followed

by tourists from many different nations and tourists in the U.S. San Diego is a great tourist destination and the San Diego Zoo is a major attraction. The San Diego Zoo and the entire tourism industry will likely see a slight bounce from increased visitation. Considering international travel is still down about 40% from pre-pandemic lockdowns, we should see some benefit later this year.

James Hamilton, UC San Diego

YES >> Pandas are one more reason people all over the world will now have for visiting San Diego. I'm also encouraged by the news for another reason. It's a step forward (albeit a very small one) in improving relations between the U.S. and China. Particularly when there are so many issues on which we may have serious disagreements, it's salutary to find some common ground in a wonder of nature in which all people can find delight.

Austin Neudecker, Weave Growth

NO >>

Attendance and tourism

will increase, but I am uncertain about how much. I love the San Diego Zoo. I appreciate their preservation efforts, the quality of the exhibits, the caring staff and their unique events. I am not a fan of governments using the $1 million annual rent of two bears as a trading chip in negotiations. The threat to remove bears from zoos that actively collaborate on research and captive breeding only hurts this endangered species.

Chris Van Gorder, Scripps Health

YES >> Absolutely, especially since the San Diego Zoo will be one of only a handful of zoos in the United States with pandas. This is a great compliment for the San Diego Zoo. And given the successful panda breeding program at the San Diego Zoo, this is great for the species, too.

Jamie Moraga, Franklin Revere

YES >> There's likely to be increased attendance and excitement by both tourists and local residents when the giant pandas

return, which will boost our local tourism industry. The San Diego Zoo will be the second zoo in the country to currently host giant pandas, which is a significant differentiator to attract additional tourism and a unique opportunity to market San Diego locally, nationally, and around the world. The beloved giant pandas are an additional incentive to visit our city.

Norm Miller, University of San Diego

YES >> We love furry blackand-white non-threatening plant-eating animals. San Diego will be unique, outside of China, as a place to visit the cutest animal known to humans, so it will be a huge magnet for our zoo, certainly worth more than a million a year in fees for the pair, special care and mandatory return of all progeny.

David Ely, San Diego State University

NO >> Tourists come to San Diego for the climate, beaches, conventions and multiple attractions. For most visitors, the chance to see pandas will not be the determining factor to