Belgian park with Chinese pandas sees sharp rise in net income

The fiscal year net income of the Belgian animal park, Pairi Daiza, jumped 558 percent thanks to record attendance notably linked to the presence of two Chinese giant pandas, Hao Hao and Xing Hui, the park has said.

In 2014-2015 fiscal year, Pairi Daiza recorded 3.9 million euros (4.29 U.S. dollars) in net income, compared to 0.59 million euros in the previous fiscal year.

The park also reported a 32 percent increase in turnover, to 41.8 million euros. The net income and turnover increase was driven by increase in both the number of visitors and the average spending per visitor.

Pairi Daiza saw a record of visits in 2014 thanks to the presence of two Chinese giant pandas. During seven months of operation from April 3 to November 2, the park attracted nearly 1,390,000 visitors.