Back from the brink
DREAMWORLD came close to being sold off at a “knockdown price” or shut completely as the Covid pandemic wreaked havoc on its bottom line, its parent company chairman reveals.
Only a $67m lifeline from the Queensland government saved the Gold Coast fun park, already reeling from the tragic deaths of four people following the malfunction of the Thunder River Rapids Ride in 2016.
Dr Gary Weiss, who became chairman of Ardent Leisure in the aftermath, said Covid and the lockdowns that ensued were “an existential threat” to the business.
Dr Weiss said various business models were produced in the “very, very challenging” months of lockdown, including what the financial result would be if the park was closed permanently.
He said all alternatives were considered as Ardent’s share price crashed amid the uncertainty of the pandemic. “They were very dark days for us,” he says.
However, the government loan pulled the theme park through and with Ardent’s US business, Main Event, now sold, the loan has been repaid ahead of time, with interest.
Dr Weiss said the theme park was now debt free, with $150m in the bank and preparing to launch a range of family friendly attractions. Its $32m rollercoaster, the Steel Taipan, launched late last year.
It is also in talks with tourist park operators to develop land adjoining the theme park into a holiday park offering cabins, glamping and powered sites.
Ardent reports that Dreamworld visitor numbers started to rebound this year and that earnings last month (July) were the best in five years.
Dr Weiss said safety was a number one priority following the deaths of Kate Goodchild, her brother Luke Dorsett, his partner Roozi Araghi and Cindy Low on the Thunder River Rapids Ride on October 25, 2016.
Commercial aviation experts were engaged to overhaul safety systems, with extensive changes to the way rides and attractions are maintained and how rides are assessed daily before taking passengers.
“We needed to make a very public stance as to the standards that we had already started to implement but were going to really press on with in terms of taking the issue of safety at Dreamworld completely out of the equation,” Dr Weiss said. “That the public would have every assurance that Dreamworld took safety exceptionally seriously.”
Ardent pleaded guilty to three breaches of the workplace health and safety laws following the tragedy and paid a $3.6m fine.
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