Ardent Leisure records ongoing growth in visitor numbers at Gold Coast attractions

Ardent Leisure’s Gold Coast attractions are reported to be outperforming those of the rival Village Roadshow Theme Parks.

According to a new analysis by Citi Research, attendance growth at Dreamworld, WhiteWater World and SkyPoint has topped that of Village Roadshow over the part five half year periods. Citi report that Village's first half growth this year was 2%, while Ardent's was 6%.

Citi's analyst Sam Teeger explains “this is not a great outcome for Village when considering it is cycling flat attendance growth in the first half compared to Ardent, which cycled 11% attendance growth."

International visitation to the Gold Coast has is growing at faster rates than domestic tourists and Citi estimates that 40% of visitors to Ardent's SkyPoint attraction are international, with about 20% for its theme parks.

Teeger also sees that ​Ardent's investment in ABC Kids World at Dreamworld has encouraged more family visits to the theme park.

In the first half of the current financial year, Village Roadshow had a per capita spend of $54.60, which was 16% higher than Ardent at $46.90.

But the per capita figures don't give a clear view. Citi says that the SkyPoint attraction is much cheaper and Ardent has previously said that its per capita spend will improve.

Citi expects an overall increase in the attendance for both companies.

Teeger adds “we expect both companies to benefit from a resurgence in Gold Coast tourism over the medium term."

With numbers of Chinese tourists to Australia increasing 22.4% in the last 12 months, the Gold Coast is a key destination, with major Chinese developers buying land and building holiday homes.

There has also been speculation that Chinese interest in the region may see Chinese real estate and entertainment giant Dalian Wanda Group look to aquire Ardent’s Gold Coast attractions.

Meanwhile both Ardent and Village Roadshow are committed to investing in new features in their parks.

With Village Roadshow investing in a DC Comics ‘Super-Villain’ themed area at Warner Bros. Movie World and having announced longer term plans for a new rollercoaster, a nine-storey hotel and a ‘new attraction and lakeside precinct’, Teeger suggests that “Ardent (will) continue to refresh rides, improve retail outlets and hold more events at its parks as opposed to spending millions of dollars on new rides."

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