If you are a fauna lover, then Bhagwan Birsa Munda Zoological Park has something unique for you. The park authorities are adapting tech savvy ways to earn more revenue. Following the modern concept, it unveiled a souvenir shop in the zoo premises on Saturday wherein the branding of the products bears the name of the zoo.
The list of such products includes coffee mugs, pens, mouse pads, t-shirts, caps, key rings and cactus plants. “We earned a revenue of Rs1. 25 crore in the last financial year. In 2013-14, it was around Rs1.60 crore. The entire fund was collected from the sale of visitor tickets. To earn more, we are initiating for unique ideas for sale and promotion,” said Zoo Director AK Patra on Sunday.
All the products are available within Rs500. For instance, a cactus plant is sold at Rs450 and t-shirt at Rs200. Interestingly, the concerned authorities are in talks with a Mumbai based agency to prepare slides of inmates presently available in the zoo.
“We have submitted a proposal of showing the slides of our animals and birds in the movie halls of two multiplexes of the state capital. The first one is Fun Cinemas at Spring city Mall and the other is Glitz Cinemas at JD Hi-Street Mall. Depending on the public response, we may show the slides in other movie halls like Popkorn Cinemas or Sujata Miniplex,” added Patra.
The proposal was a part of the governing body meeting of the zoo held few days back. Patra is hopeful that the plan will be approved within a month. “The slides would probably be shown in between the movie hours. It will be displayed for a period of 16 or 20 minutes,” mentioned the Director.
According to sources, the large number of visitors is witnessed in the zoo during festive seasons like New Year, Christmas or Durga Puja. The summer season is basically an off season for the zoo people.
Patra said both the steps will help them in achieving the target of revenue generation of Rs1.50 crore in the 2015-16 financial year.c