Ardent and Village Roadshow look for early reopening of Gold Coast theme parks

With Queensland currently easing its Coronavirus restriction Gold Coast theme park operators, Village Roadshow Limited and Ardent Leisure, have joined together with aim of being able to reopen earlier than originally planned.

Currently, the Queensland Government’s recovery roadmap states that outdoor amusement parks, zoos and arcades can reopen as part of the state's stage three easing from 10th July, but with a maximum of 100 people.

In common with other large venues and facilities, the theme park operators say that this is not viable, and that they will need to be allowed to welcome thousands of visitors.

Last month Village Roadshow Theme Parks Chief Operating Officer, Bikash Randhawa told MyGC that “we need to have, at a minimum, 5000 people here before it makes any commercial sense or financial sense.”

To try to achieve this, Village Roadshow Limited - which owns Warner Bros. Movie World, Sea World, Wet’n’Wild and Paradise Country - has teamed up with Dreamworld owner Ardent Leisure.

In common with other sectors they are developing Industry COVIDSafe plans that would allow them to permit entry to more guests.

Confirming this, Queensland Tourism Minister Kate Jones advised this week “they’ve both submitted their COVIDSafe plans to the Queensland Health Department and the Chief Health Officer and they are currently being assessed.

“At this stage they are in stage three of the roadmap but I’ll be meeting with them to work with them to see how we can open them up in a safe way.

“My understanding is they want to do it quickly, but the roadmap clearly states that theme parks are part of stage three.”

Backing the potential reopening, Destination Gold Coast Chairman Paul Donovan stated “we need the theme parks open and as I understand we’ve had the COVID-safe prepared by the theme parks and by the Convention Centre and we’re just waiting for them to be approved.”

This week has seen the Queensland Government approve Industry COVIDSafe plans from both the aquatic facilities and fitness clubs sectors.

Meanwhile, Village Roadshow Limited has agreed to takeover negotiations with private equity firm BGH Capital. BGH’s takeover offer of up to $468.5 million includes various caveats if Village Roadshow Limited wants to receive the full offer price.

Image: Sea World's Storm Coaster.