Tourism Based Merchandise at its Best!

Fiona the Hippopotamus Giving Cincinnati Zoo $480K Merchandise Bump Ahead of Her First Birthday

Here is a great working example for all of you in the tourism sector in New Zealand, showing how effective your merchandise and apparel sales can be, when done right!

Since her premature birth last January, a hippopotamus named Fiona has proven a literal example of animal magnetism, with the mammal’s presence at the Cincinnati Zoo helping the location to draw large crowds as staffers tend to her welfare and increase enthusiasm for her species. The Ohio destination has been a considerable beneficiary of the nearly year-old occupant’s “aww” factor and has generated around $480,000 in merchandise sales thanks to her presence.

The Zoo has sold all sorts of merchandise from beer, books, clothing, drinkware, playing cards, to Christmas ornaments and wrapping paper with a large percentage of those proceeds going to her care and well-being, notably the acquisition of medical supplies and the construction of pools. 

Source: Joseph Myers