Ardent Leisure and Village Roadshow, operators of Gold Coast theme parks, are to each receive cash injections of $70m. The funding will provide the theme parks with some security during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ardent Leisure are the operators of Dreamworld and WhiteWater World. Village Roadshow (VRL) operate Sea World, Warner Bros Movie World, Wet ‘n’ Wild Gold Coast, and Paradise Country.
The funding for VRL is coming from the Queensland Treasury Corporation and its existing lenders. The company says the injection of cash will cover its cash requirements for the next 12 months.
Ardent Leisure’s funding is being supplied by the Queensland government’s Covid-19 industry support package. The financial assistance is made up of a $69.9m loan and a $3m grant, which is free of interest, fees, or repayment terms.
Dr Gary Weiss, chairman of Ardent Leisure, and theme parks CEO, John Osborne, commented: “We appreciate the Queensland Government’s strong recognition of the important role that the theme park industry plays in the economic development of Queensland and the broader tourism industry in Australia.
“The Queensland Government’s foresight in providing this financial assistance package will enable Ardent to reopen its iconic theme parks, continue to employ hundreds of people and, once the COVID-19 pandemic is behind us, continue to invest in future tourism infrastructure and create more local jobs,” they added.
