Ardent to spend $50m on new rides, attractions after Dreamworld tragedy

Dreamworld owner Ardent will spend $50m on new rides and attractions as it tries to lure back visitors after a 2016 tragedy.

Artist’s impression of a planned new rollercoaster at Dreamworld

Dreamworld owner Ardent Leisure will invest $50 million on new rides and attractions over the next three to five years, in a bid to lure customers to its struggling theme parks.

Attendance numbers have tumbled at the company’s theme parks on the Gold Coast in the wake of a fatal accident at Dreamworld in 2016.

Delays in opening the new Sky Voyager ride at Dreamworld, which is expected to increase attendance, had also impacted customer numbers through 2019, the company said. The Sky Voyager “flying theatre” ride is set to be the first of its kind in the southern hemisphere.

“Based on the success of similar rides in other parts of the world and the pent-up demand for new product in our market we are confident that the launch of Sky Voyager will be a great success,” the company told investors.

Ardent Leisure said today that recovery in its theme park business, which includes Dreamworld and WhiteWater World, had been slower than expected, after four people died on the Dreamworld Thunder River Rapids ride in October 2016, sparking a coronial inquest.

The findings from the inquest are expected to be handed down later this year.

Unveiling its full-year results, Ardent Leisure said investment in new rides, combined with an improvement in the 2019 financial year, was expected to set Dreamworld on the path to recovery, with the aim of returning earnings to pre-incident levels over the next three-to-five years.

Attendance at Dreamworld, WhiteWater World and the SkyPoint observation deck fell 11.2 per cent in the 2019 fiscal year to just under 1.5 million, compared to more than 1.6 million a year ago.

As a result, the company’s theme parks business recorded an annual earnings loss of $10m, compared to a loss of $7.5m in fiscal year 2018, due to higher costs across the entire business, including in the safety and repairs and maintenance areas.

Artists’s impression of a planned new waterside at Dreamworld.

Still, the company said Dreamworld was expected to return to profitability in fiscal year 2020.

Ardent Leisure booked a $79.6m non-cash valuation loss and impairment charges in its theme parks business last year, which included a valuation loss on Dreamworld of $75m.

Overall, Ardent posted a full-year net loss of $69.9 million, an improvement on last year’s $90.7m loss. It said the 11.7 per cent decline in revenue reflected the sales of its marinas and bowling businesses.

Ardent won’t pay a final dividend.