Abstract
Zoos are not just zoological institutions. On the contrary, they are clearly part of the tourist and leisure-time business.
All over the world, zoological gardens are the most popular tourist and leisure-time destinations. Following 1989, most Czech tourist destinations experienced a drop in attendance rates.
This was the same in zoos, where the number of visits went down to 50-80 % of the 1989 figures. Above all, this negative trend reflected the political and socio-economic changes at the turn of the 1980's, which were taking place within the crumbling Eastern Block.
After the decline in people's interest, attendance rates started to increase again in the late 1990's. In some places, the figures did not reach previous values, in other places they did and in a number of instances were even much higher.
On the whole, the segment of Czech zoological gardens noted the beginning of a long-term growth. In Czechia, the number of visits has almost doubled in the course of the past twenty years.
This contribution compares the development in Czechia, Slovakia and Germany, including different methodological approaches.