Available Business & Tourism Sessions
Click on an education session for more detail including curriculum links
Please be aware, that although sessions are FREE, Colchester Zoo reserves the right to charge a £20 fee educational sessions which are booked but not attended.
Detailed Session Descriptions:
Finance Talk – KS4 and higher
Updated Autumn 2026 to align with curriculumn changes
How does a seasonal visitor attraction manage its finances when visitor numbers, weather and operating costs can change significantly?
Using CZS as a real-world case study, students explore the financial decisions involved in running a modern zoo. The session examines operating costs, staffing, income, break-even analysis and the relationship between visitor numbers and financial performance. Students consider how seasonal demand, weather and other factors can affect attendance, and how businesses respond through pricing strategies, capacity management and other financial decisions.
Real CZS examples, including ticket sales, EPOS managment, and changing visitor demand, are used throughout to explore how businesses use financial information to make decisions. The session also considers how CZS generates a sustainable surplus as a charity and the wider economic impact of the zoo on the local and regional economy. Graphs, charts and real-world figures are used throughout.
Click for curriculum topics covered
- Understand the financial objectives of CZS as a charitable visitor attraction
- Identify and classify fixed and variable costs
- Explore staffing costs, including seasonal and flexible working
- Calculations and interpretions of break-even
- Explore CZS’s sources of income and revenue
- Understand how variable visitor numbers affect income, costs and financial performance
- Explore how businesses use EPOS and customer spending data to inform financial decisions
- Understand and compare pricing strategies
- Explore the relationship between revenue, costs and surplus
- Consider how seasonality, weather and other external factors affect financial decisions
- KS5+: Use PESTLE analysis to explore external influences on financial performance
- Explore the local and regional economic impact of CZS
Marketing & Communications Talk – KS3 and higher
Updated Autumn 2026 to align with curriculumn changes
What makes people choose to visit a zoo, attend an event or become a member? Using CZS as a real-world case study, students explore how organisations understand their customers, develop products and communicate with different audiences.
The session explores marketing objectives, target markets, customer decision-making, market research, promotional methods, pricing and product development. Students consider how businesses segment and target different audiences, use the marketing mix and adapt their strategies to different products. Real CZS examples are used throughout to demonstrate that marketing is more than advertising: it involves understanding customers, creating value, communicating effectively and using evidence to evaluate and improve decisions.
Click for curriculum topics covered
- Understand the role and mission of CZS
- Understand the marketing objectives of CZS and how these relate to its charitable mission
- Explain what a target market is and why understanding customers is important
- Explore demographic and geographic segmentation, including mass and niche markets
- Consider competitors and alternative activities when identifying target markets
- Explore customer decision-making and the customer journey
- Explore how businesses use primary and secondary market research
- Explore primary and secondary market research, including customer feedback and mystery shopping
- Explore the marketing mix, including product, price, place and promotion
- Use SWOT analysis to consider factors affecting marketing decisions
- Explore CZS products using the various product matrixs and examining the Product Life Cycle
- Understand and compare pricing strategies
- Recognise the relationship between marketing, customer experience, income and CZS’s wider mission
Q & A Session – KS3 and higher
Please note this session is 45 minutes for a maximum of 50 students.
This session is a bookable timeslot for your students to ask Colchester Zoo staff questions. Zoo staff can answer questions on a wide range of topics including how we use science at Colchester Zoo, how we meet the needs of our customers, health and safety concerns of a zoo, case study examples of our conservation projects, or a focus on any other topic.
This session is ideal for students which are required to gather specific information for completing mock assessment, portfolios, workbooks, etc.
Students attending this session MUST come prepared with a list of question to ask the speaker.
Sustainability: People, Planet & Profit – KS3 and higher
New Autumn 2026 – More details coming soon!
What does sustainability mean for a business, and how can businesses make more sustainable decisions?
Using Colchester Zoological Society as a real-world case study, students explore the environmental, social and economic factors that influence business decisions. They will consider resource use, waste, supply chains, customers, stakeholders, reputation and the potential trade-offs between sustainability, costs and long-term financial performance.
Zoo Business Operations – KS3 and higher
Updated Autumn 2026 to align with curriculumn changes
How do you run a zoo as a visitor attraction when your organisation is also a charity?
Using CZS as a real-world case study, students explore the business decisions involved in running a modern zoo. They examine operating costs, sources of income and the relationship between visitor numbers and revenue, considering how seasonality, weather, special events and pricing can affect demand and financial decision-making.
The session then explores customers, including market segments, demographics, customer needs and satisfaction. Students consider how businesses use market research and customer data to understand visitors, improve the customer journey and develop products and experiences. The session also considers how CZS’s charitable mission influences business decisions and how a charity can generate income and a sustainable surplus while directing resources back into its wider mission.
For younger students, the session introduces key business concepts and terminology through the CZS case study. Older students explore more complex issues including financial analysis, SWOT and PESTLE analysis, and strategic decision-making.
Click for curriculum topics covered
- Understand the role, mission and purpose of Colchester Zoological Society
- Understand how CZS operates as both a charity and visitor attraction
- Identify the main costs involved in running a zoo
- Explore CZS’s sources of income and revenue
- Understand the relationship between visitor numbers, demand, and income
- Explore how seasonality, weather, special events and pricing affect visitor demand
- Understand how businesses respond to changing demand
- Explore customer segments and demographics, including catchment area and visitor behaviour.
- Explore market research, including customer feedback, mystery shopping, visitor flow, dwell time and sector insight.
- Identify customer needs and pain points and consider how businesses can improve the customer experience
- Understand how CZS works to improve customer satisfaction, retention, and the customer journey
- Explore CZS’s products and product development, including entry, events, food, retail and experiences
- Explore SWOT analysis to identify internal and external factors affecting CZS
- KS5+ only: Use PESTLE analysis to explore external factors affecting the organisation
Marketing is not covered in this talk in depth at KS5 level as it is available as a seperate talk ‘Marketing & Communications’. For KS3 and KS4 level it is briefly discussed. Across any level, if you would like to focus specifically on marketing, please book the ‘Marketing & Communications’ talk.
