How Jungle Cat World moved from walk-ups to online bookings—and 300%+ revenue

Jungle Cat World Wildlife Park is a family-run sanctuary in Ontario, Canada. Since 1983, it has cared for a wide range of species—many rescued, others endangered—with a focus on welfare, education, and conservation, and on helping guests connect with the animals respectfully.

The problem: a cash-and-POS front gate

Before TicketingHub, the park did not sell tickets online. Peter, Park Director, says: “We had no online booking system. Transactions were done onsite with a POS device or simply with cash.” On busy days, that meant slow, inconvenient service and long lines—a poor first impression for families arriving for a day with the animals.

Without advance bookings, it was hard to predict turnout. Peter explains: “We couldn’t forecast how many people to expect on any given day or for special events,” which made staffing and planning harder than they needed to be.

What changed with TicketingHub

TicketingHub gave Jungle Cat World a direct online booking path and a widget that fits how guests plan visits. Early on, online uptake was gradual; COVID-19 accelerated the shift toward online management and prepayment. Today, Peter says: “We have very few walk-ins” and they can use TicketingHub to record income and attendance more reliably. Automated emails reduce admin load, and a follow-up email asking for reviews has been useful for learning how visitors experience the park.

The forecasting problem flipped along the way. With most guests prepaying online, the team can watch attendance build ahead of a weekend or a special event and staff accordingly, instead of finding out at the gate how busy the day will be.

Price and fit mattered for a registered charity. Peter says: “Price initially was the biggest influence. Because we’re a registered charity, the 3% fee was reduced to 2%, with no set-up or monthly fee.” He also values working with a small team willing to adapt as the park’s programmes evolve.

Peter notes: “Integration was relatively easy.” Having payments made upfront means staff can move straight into hospitality and animal-care mode when guests arrive instead of processing payments at the gate. “Being able to schedule all our various programs in one place is great! And processing cancellations is simple and easy.”

How the park operates today

That last point—all the programmes in one place—is where the setup has grown the most. What started as simple admission tickets now covers a full calendar:

• General admission and Behind the Scenes experiences run side by side, with booking rules where they're needed—Behind the Scenes requires at least one adult per booking, so a kids-only reservation can't slip through checkout.
• Birthday Adventures are capped at one booking per day, so a private event never double-books.
• Seasonal events like the Halloween “Prowl at the Park” and the Savannah Marketplace get their own products, time slots, and capacities—for one Halloween event the team consolidated leftover Covid-era 15-minute entry slots into a single evening slot without disturbing tickets already sold.

The gate itself still handles walk-ups, but through the TicketingHub POS app on a phone rather than a separate cash system—so on-site sales land in the same records as online ones. During big events, seasonal staff scan tickets through accounts scoped to box-office and entry duties only, which keeps access simple and safe. And when something glitches on an event night—as happened once when a staff member's scanning app wouldn't show certain ticket types during a live Halloween event—support has resolved it over chat while the queue was still moving.

Smaller details have accumulated around the same system. Guests can add a donation to the Endangered Species Fund of Canada at checkout, set up as a tax-exempt extra the park can track in its reports. Promotional codes from third-party campaigns such as Groupon redeem cleanly at checkout. And waiver links ride along in each product's confirmation email, so paperwork is done before families arrive.

“10/10! Amazing customer service! Very patient. Fast to respond and help.”
— Peter, Park Director

The outcome

Overall, Jungle Cat World replaced a cash-and-POS-heavy front door with online sales, clearer attendance, and less queue friction—and saw more than 300% revenue growth after the switch, alongside a smoother visit for guests and a more predictable day for staff.

For other zoos, sanctuaries, and wildlife parks, the pattern is worth noting: the win wasn't just moving payments online. It was getting every programme—daily admission, premium experiences, birthdays, seasonal events, walk-ups, and donations—into one calendar and one set of records, so a small team can run a varied operation without juggling systems.