Ardent Leisure drops plans for Dreamworld hotel

Ardent Leisure is reported to have dropped plans to develop a hotel and tourist park adjacent to its Dreamworld theme park.

Revealed in May, Ardent’s $75 million project for a 4-star 250 room resort-style hotel and tourist park have apparently been halted after a breakdown in negotiations with the developer.

The Dreamworld Resort project was to have been funded and developed by Gold Coast Airport Hotel developer Evolution Group on part of the surplus land owned by Ardent next to the Dreamworld park.

The accommodation offering was to include the 4-star themed hotel, 40 bungalows and a 5-star tourist park with 100 powered sites.

In an announcement to the ASX last week, Ardent advised “since notifying the market earlier this year that a non-binding agreement had been entered into with developer Evolution Group to develop a resort style hotel and tourist park adjacent to Dreamworld the parties and their advisers have been engaged in negotiations, however they have been unable to reach agreement on key aspects of the proposal.

“As a consequence, the Company has ceased these non-binding negotiations.”

Ardent, which launched its Steel Taipan rollercoaster at Dreamworld on 15th December, said it remained committed “to exploring an on-site tourist accommodation offering at Dreamworld”, with the statement adding that it “will now focus its attention on progressing the other available options, as well as continuing to explore opportunities to maximise the Group’s total surplus land holdings adjacent to the park.

“The company is optimistic that, with the Queensland border now re-open, the theme park business will benefit from increased visitation off the back of pent-up demand.”

Image: Dreamworld and WhiteWater World from the air in 2013. Credit: Dreamworld.