Dublin Zoo claim that Papal visit contributed to decline in visitors

They were forced to close their doors for three days during the Papal Visit.

Dublin Zoo has said the visit of Pope Francis to Dublin in the summer of 2018 contributed to a drop of almost 100,000 in visitor numbers this year. According to RTÉ, Director Leo Oosterweghel claimed the pontiff "pulled the rug" from beneath them in a year when they also had to contend with the Beast from the East as well as one of the hottest summers on record in Ireland. The popular attraction was forced to close its doors for three days in August during the visit of Pope Francis, which resulted in a somewhat drastic decline in visitors to the Zoo. The Papal tour included a mass in the Phoenix Park, the home of Dublin Zoo. Mr Oosterweghel also said: "We took a hit. We're down. We're still above the million but we're probably down 100,000 visitors." Dublin Zoo is currently running one of its most popular attractions - the Wild Lights exhibit. RTÉ also claim that in 2017, over 1.1 million people visited the zoo. That figure is expected to be in the region of 1.01m people at the end of 2018. They also said that the weather at the start of the year was also to blame for the drop in numbers.