TOURISM, ARTS & CULTURE INTERVIEW
Cool science The Florida Aquarium’s role in Tampa Bay includes economic impact and an educational role that focuses on STEM
Roger Germann President & CEO – The Florida Aquarium What is the key to the aquarium’s growth In 2019, we had 842,000 people come through our doors, and it was one of of our largest years ever. We are up 5% year-over-year in growth as far as attendance goes and that is an economic boost that has positive effects on our community. The key to our sustained growth has been twofold. The first is that we opened up some new exhibits, which I think is critical. In our industry, the attraction and entertainment industry, we are competing for disposable income dollars so we want to make sure that we are always fresh, relevant and innovative. Our two newest exhibits Heart of the sea and Moon Bay, help us in this regard. The second key is that people are very much in tune with our connectivity to saving wildlife. Unfortunately, there has become more of a nature disconnect as more people are living in urban settings and not necessarily getting out in nature and appreciating it. We are combating this with the conservation work we are doing, and people are starting to recognize that their dollars spent at places like this are going toward saving the environment. How does The Florida Aquarium impact the region? The Florida Aquarium is a nonprofit organization that will celebrate its 25th anniversary through 2021. We are a conservation-based attraction that, I believe, is one of the crown jewels in the city of Tampa and also for the Tampa Bay region. Our mission is to educate, entertain and conserve our natural world. Our mission is to save and protect wildlife and wild places through conservation, education, entertainment, and advocacy. We play a very important economic role here in the Tampa Bay region and the whole of Florida. We provide a base for economics, we are an economic driver, we are an education leader, we are striving to save wildlife on the blue planet and we like to have fun. At the end of the day, I believe the best way to describe us is that we are like a cool science teacher. 148 | Invest: Tampa Bay 2020 | TOURISM, ARTS & CULTURE
How is the aquarium involved in education? When I look at our universities and the programs they are working on, I believe we are going to start seeing more innovation and marine industry professionals being born out of the Bay. We will see more marine science and marine innovation happening here because people feel there is opportunity in this sector. Our learning programs at the aquarium are not just textbook learning; instead, we are trying to focus on STEM education and preparing a lot of the young people to go into STEM careers. We are working to have these students go to schools like the University of South Florida and the University of Tampa, so ultimately they can create a workforce that comes right back into this region to work. This is critical for us to continue the job growth in our marine industry.
