Ardent Leisure appoints new CEO

Ardent Leisure, owners of Dreamworld and WhiteWater World, have appointed former editor of Cleo and The Australian Woman's Weekly Deborah Thomas to the position of chief executive officer.

Thomas replaces outgoing CEO Greg Shaw, who has been at the helm of the company for almost 13 years.

Ardent Leisure – formerly Macquarie Leisure Trust – owns and operates a wide range of tourism, health and leisure properties including the Dreamworld and WhiteWater World theme parks.Their portfolio also includes the AMF chain of tenpin bowling centres, Goodlife gyms, several marinas and the Main Event chain of indoor entertainment centres in the USA.

Under Shaw's watch, the company built the WhiteWater World water park adjacent to Dreamworld. Opening in 2006 at a cost of $56 million it was the largest single investment in a Gold Coast theme park in decades and the first new park since Warner Bros. Movie World opened in 1991.

Shaw and Thomas will transition the roles over the remaining months of the financial year. Greg Shaw retires from Ardent Leisure in July 2015.

In the short term the announcement will likely have little impact on immediate projects for Dreamworld and WhiteWater World. Dreamworld has its own executive team led by CEO Craig Davidson, who joined the group in August 2013.