Maritime Aquarium attendance sees rise
NORWALK — With nearly 500,000 guest visits in fiscal year 2021-2022, the Maritime Aquarium brought in $88.6 million in economic activity to Connecticut, according to a recent study.
“Its positive economic impact ripples throughout the community, contributing to the overall vitality and growth of Norwalk and its surrounding areas,” State Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, said in a statement.
The $88.6 million economic impact is a culmination of organizational expenditures, research, conservation and educational programming, and ancillary visitor spending. This figure has increased by roughly 25 percent since the last time it was studied in 2007, the aquarium said.
Ancillary spending accounts for visitors’ spending outside of the aquarium on things like food, entertainment, and lodging, if they come from afar, according to the economic impact report, which is dated September 2023 but was released by the city and aquarium this month.
The latest report estimates ancillary visitor spending at $34.8 million.
“Serving our community is a source of pride for us at the Aquarium,” Jason Patlis, the aquarium’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “The economic benefits to the city and the state go hand-in-hand with an extraordinary effort of our staff and volunteers on the dayto-day operations to ensure the highest care and wellbeing of our animals, and the worldclass experiences for our guests.”
According to the study, the aquarium supported the equivalent of 620 full-time jobs statewide from $31.4 million in employee compensation.
“I’m thrilled to see The Maritime Aquarium’s Economic Impact Report reflects the momentous contributions of what we in Southwest Connecticut know to be a fixture of our community,”
U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-4, said in a statement.
Within Norwalk specifically, the aquarium generated a $55.8 million impact and supported the equivalent of 490 full-time employees with $21.7 million in employee compensation, the report found.
Fiscal year 2022 was a banner year for the aquarium’s attendance, with 484,148 visitors — 63 percent more visitors than the roughly 297,000 that went to the aquarium in fiscal year 2021, when attendance resembled pre-pandemic numbers, according to the report, which was conducted by Philadelphia-based Econsult Solutions, Inc.
In fact, attendance in fiscal year 2022 was “well above prepandemic levels,” the study said. The next most well-attended fiscal year in the last five was 2018, with 298,457.
Attendance in fiscal year 2022 exceeds fiscal year 2018 by 62 percent.
“The Economic Impact Report reaffirms what we already knew,” Mayor Harry Rilling said in a statement. “The benefits of The Maritime Aquarium touch the lives of every single Norwalker and even generate a positive economic impact throughout our state and region.”
In 2022, the aquarium brought in $6.3 million in admissions — 27 percent more than the $5 million in admissions in fiscal year 2021, according to the Maritime Aquarium’s annual reports from fiscal years 2021 and 2022.
Visitors’ spending at the gift shop increased, as revenue nearly doubled from fiscal year 2021 into fiscal year 2022, from $322,280 to $483,313, the annual reports show.
Total support and revenue in fiscal year 2021 was $11,422,364, which increased by 60 percent in fiscal year 2022 to $18,311,670, according to the annual reports.
Over the past five fiscal years, Norwalkers maintain an 11.4 percent plurality of attendance at the Maritime Aquarium.
The next four spots are all Connecticut towns and cities, as well: Stamford at 6.3 percent, Darien at 3.9 percent, Fairfield at 3.5 percent, and Westport at 3.4 percent.
The only New York municipality to break over 2 percent of attendees is the Bronx in sixth place, with 2.5 percent of attendees. New York City, White Plains, Yonkers and New Rochelle each account for 1.5 percent or less of attendees.
Other Connecticut municipalities that cracked the top 10 are New Canaan, Wilton, Greenwich, and Bridgeport.