Thomas role scrapped
ARDENT Leisure chief Deborah Thomas is exiting the struggling company just weeks before she was due to step into a new role with the group.
The owner of the Dreamworld theme park has announced Ms Thomas will cease employment on July 1, but continue serving the company in the short term as a consultant.
She will receive a termination payout of about $730,000 and be paid $3000 for each day she works as a consultant. Ms Thomas, a former editor The Australian Women’s of Weekly, was due to become chief customer officer at the group on July 1, with a focus on its theme parks.
The role change followed the tragic deaths last October of four people at Dreamworld, when a ride malfunctioned.
Ardent said yesterday that the agreement to offer Ms Thomas the new role had been “suspended”.
The company added that Ms Thomas would provide ongoing support to incoming chief executive Simon Kelly, other senior managers and directors for a pending coronial inquiry into the tragedy.
The news came hot on the heels of revelations that Dreamworld is still struggling to regain customers following the tragedy.
Ardent told the Australian Securities Exchange yesterday that visitor numbers at its theme parks division during the month of May were down 35.8 per cent when compared to a year prior. The theme parks division consists of Dreamworld, WhiteWater World and the SkyPoint observation deck on the top floor of the Q1 skyscraper in Surfers Paradise.
Ardent Leisure said unaudited revenue for May was $3.9 million, down 35.4 per cent versus the prior corresponding period.
But the embattled company said this was a recovery from figures earlier in the year, which were impacted by the ride tragedy and wet weather, including Cyclone Debbie.
“This represents an improvement in both visitation and revenue compared to the March and April results reported in last month’s update,” the company said.
The company also said it was preparing for the school holiday period, which it hopes will drive some revenue gains.