Zealandia

Dave Burgess at the Dom Post reports:

Wellington ratepayers could become Zealandia’s owners, as it struggles to attract tourists, and it must find more money or be shut.

The Karori Sanctuary Trust has painted a bleak financial picture in its 2011 annual report, which shows the wildlife sanctuary would use its $1.79m cash reserves within the next few years. The financial crisis comes on the back of dire visitor numbers for the June year when just 89,643 people went through the sanctuary’s turnstiles, against a budgeted 140,000 visitors.

This is not a surprise. Here’s why.

Concerns that fewer visitors would visit the sanctuary were raised in March last year, when entry prices almost doubled from $15 to $28 for adults, $7 to $14 for children and $37 to $70 for family passes. The cost of entering the 225-hectare valley, without a trip to the visitor centre, jumped $3 to $18.

This is how the real world works. You double the price of something and numbers visiting almost half.

What is amazing is people think this doesn’t apply to the labour market. You increase the minimum wage, and increase the cost of labour, and it is no surprise that fewer people get employed.