ORLANDO, Fla. – SeaWorld Entertainment is once again reporting a rise in attendance and revenue with a new CEO at the helm.

  • Attendance, revenue up at SeaWorld parks
  • In 4th quarter, attendance was up to 4.7 million guests
  • Total revenue in same quarter was $18 million

The Orlando-based released its fourth quarter and fiscal 2019 earnings report on Wednesday.

In the fourth quarter, attendance increased 2.2 percent to 4.7 million guests. For the year, attendance was up .2 percent to 22.6 million guests.

Total revenue in the fourth quarter was $18 million, up 6.4 percent from the same period in 2018. For the year, revenue increased 1.9 percent to $1.4 billion. However, SeaWorld also reported that its net loss widened to $24.2 million, which included a previously announced settlement charge.

SeaWorld CEO Serge Rivera said the attendance and revenue bumps were due to the company's focus on cost savings initiatives and new attractions at its parks every year.

 "With respect to 2020, we could not be more excited about our ride, attraction and event lineup—it will be our strongest lineup ever," Rivera said in a statement. "We will be introducing one-of-a-kind, record-breaking roller coasters across our five major theme parks and thrilling record-breaking new slides across our water parks this year."

New attractions on the way for SeaWorld include, Ice Breaker at SeaWorld Orlando and Iron Gwazi at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay—both scheduled to open this spring.

Rivera, who previously worked as the head of ILG Inc.'s Vacations Ownership Segment, was named CEO of SeaWorld in November. He replaced Gus Antorcha, who left the company in September.

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