Management Changes at Village Roadshow Theme Parks

The Village Roadshow Theme Parks Board has announced the completion of a comprehensive management review of its Gold Coast theme park business. Village Roadshow Theme Parks is a key division of the ASX listed Village Roadshow Limited (VRL).

VRL Chairman John Kirby and VRL Chief Executive Graham Burke said that the review was designed to provide greater depth of management and optimize profitability into the next decade.

As a result of this review, current Village Roadshow Theme Parks Chief Executive John Menzies (pictured) has been promoted to the position of Chairman of the Village Roadshow Theme Park Group and Tim Fisher, the current Chief Operating Officer, has been promoted to Chief Executive.

Kirby explained "the leadership of John and Tim is unmatched in the theme park universe and their combined experience and energy will drive the business in this new era."

Burke added "John Menzies has the numbers on the board with his vast experience across all aspects of theme park operations. Tim came to us from Paramount Parks initially to head our American operations and is an outstanding executive who brings his 20 plus years of experience to the new role where he will have direct responsibility for all aspects of the business, including strategic direction, capital planning and day to day operation."

The organisational change follows a recent restructuring of the Gold Coast theme parks, where the businesses were delineated into two distinct operations; the Warner Bros. Movie World business unit and the Sea World business unit.

The Warner Bros. Movie World unit encompasses Warner Bros. Movie World, Wet'n'Wild Water World, Australian Outback Spectacular and Paradise Country while the Sea World unit encompasses Sea World, Sea World Resort and Water Park, Sea World Whale Watch and Sea World Aviation.

Another former Paramount Parks Executive, Robert White, has been appointed General Manager of the Warner Bros. Movie World business unit, while Taubin Gay has been appointed General Manager of the Sea World unit.

Ernst Pfister remains at the helm as General Manager of Sea World Resort and Water Park and is also now using his expertise to make a massive contribution to the business in an expanded role as the executive responsible for all of Sea World's food, beverage and retail operations.