Dreamworld attendance and revenue fall in 2009

[Parkz News]

Dreamworld attendance and revenue fall in 2009

Dreamworld's results for the 2009 financial year report reduced attendance and profits. WhiteWater World reports increased attendance but reduced overall profits.

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[tolly1804]

Joining 9/11, SARS and Bird Flu for 2009 is Swine Flu, cited as reasons for international and Victorian travel declines in recent months.

Or perhaps it could be the introduction of up-charge rides, with no substantial reason for interstate visitors to visit Dreamworld again

[Reanimated35]

they arent blaming the GFC???

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

The GFC is a myth. The only people who are being negatively affected financially are the people who sprayed their profits against the wall with extravagant expenses that didn't do diddly to support and improve their business. The others are those who invested in them. If you ask around, there are many, many businesses out there that are killing it during these "tough times" Swine flu is certainly an argument for them - Wonderland used Bird Flu and got away with it didn't they? If they say GFC, then they admit that their investment strategy for the past 5 odd years has been crap. If they say "Medical Epidemic completely outside of our control" then they're in the clear - "there was nothing we could do about Mr and Mrs Shareholder - Honest!" And what a load of crap - it takes 4 seconds to google a bullet hole in their story. Plain and simple - H1N1 (Swine Flu) didn't rear it's head (in mexico, mind you) until April 2009. So we're talking about 3 months for dreamworld to lose 5% through the gates. Now if 75,000 is 5%, thats 1.5million people in a year. This equates to 4120 per day. (364 days). The 4th Quarter of the financial year (if we start from April 1) gives you 375,000 people through the gates - So if we lost 5%, and all of it since Swine Flu, then we lost that 75,000 out of the 375,000 - so we only got 300,000 through the gates in Q4 - or 3296 people per day... Right? WRONG On June 10th, 2009 - The World Health Organisation advised they were CONSIDERING a pandemic because Australia had 1200 confirmed cases of Swine Flu. (BBC News) So if this is the case (because I remember seeing all the swine flu stuff on the news, but it didn't really bother me under WHO got involved), then we are talking about a loss in daily gate traffic between June 10 and June 30 - or 20 days. Now with an average of 4120 people through the gate each day, that 5% drop must have been marvellous - where are all the people's posts telling us how awesome dreamworld was between the 10th and the 30th of june, because, on average, there were only 370 people in the park for those last 3 weeks!!!!! (And let's not forget, between the 10th and 30th of June was when Dreamworld ran that promotion for unlimited entry (a bit like Q150) to bring MORE people in the gates! (Musn't have been very successful!!!!!!!!!)

Edited August 20, 2009 by AlexB

[Gazza]

The full thing can be viewed here. http://www.macquarie.com.au/au/property/ac...tation_2009.pdf The bit that makes me want to bang my head against a wall is this:

The result has been achieved with a low capital spend for the period. The new “Alien vs Predator” laser experience has received very positive feedback and provides a cost effective addition to the unique product range being offered by Dreamworld

And

-Management is focused upon creation of ‘value-add’ up-selling opportunities and new revenue streams including night time operations of Adrenalin Alley (AVPX, Flowrider, Games and V8 Supercars) - Marketing focus to remain on tactical value, brand leverage (ie Wiggles/Nickelodeon and innovation

They've just had a 5% slump in attendance, and they want to continue this losing strategy? I must say, I'm loving that the photos have been artfully chosen to match the headline lately. Edited August 20, 2009 by Gazza

[joz]

To be fair to them, they were up against it this year with two major attractions (HWSD @ MW & JR @ SW) as well as another new slide at WnW, plus WVTPs have been giving the gate away for the past few months, not surprising to see DW take a hit. Really not sure about the recovery plan though. I mean increasing per cap spending is all well and good, but clearly what you see with these results is if people aren't coming into the park in the first place, per cap spending won't make it up. A 5% decrease is significant, (higher then the 2% decrease I was predicting) and to off set that you need a much higher per cap spend. It's not happening, the new up charge attraction and Q4U have barely nudged the per cap figure. It may have moved it around a bit (so instead of going on Flowrider people are going on Redline, and instead of coming back a second day to do the parks people are getting Q4U) but neither of this years crop of optional extras have done much for the bottom line. To me, that says that the per cap spend on those sorts of things has been pretty much maxed out. Really, what DW needs is a big, shiny new ride to draw the punters in, otherwise in a few years there will be all this up charge stuff with no one to use it. As for WWW, good to see the attendance jump, nothing unexpected here, though the total revenue being down is disappointing. I think the thing to remember about WWW is its more of a value add-on to DW - 68% of people who went to WWW had a world pass. Also interesting to hear them talk about adrenaline alley (if they aren't going to open any rides they may want to rethink the name) being open at night. If they add in a good restaurant and dare I say, bowling, they might have a decent little entertainment area on their hands. Heck, move Reef Diver and the entrance for Cyclone and have it as an area open to the public for free all the time like this site has been saying for a while now

[Gazza]

Well, the transition to Ardent Leisure doesn't seem to offer much hope for positive change (In terms of financial results and the offerings of the parks): http://www.ardentleisure.com.au/acrobat/pr-preso-250609.pdf From page 15:

Selected growth opportunities -Dreamworld/WhiteWater World Continued focus on low cost innovative developments to enhance product offer and drive domestic attendance.

From page 23:

Positioning & Strategy New product development has delivered unique interactive experiences from: -Flowrider – Australia’s first stationary wave -V8 Supercar Redline – a real life V8 Supercar simulator -Alien vs Predator – a next generation laser combat experience ... Outlook Continued emphasis upon ongoing product innovation to ensure that Dreamworld brand remains 'cutting edge' in new ride and interactive experiences.

[GoGoBoy]

The term 'interactive experiences' makes me shudder. In other words anything but decent new rides. I'm still holding out hope for new major capital investment for both DW and WWW in the second half of 2010. I remember reading another recent annual report that did briefly mention possible expansion opportunities at WWW as the economy picks up. Plus next year will have been the 3rd year since a ride was installed at DW. On a side note Gazza, Ardent Leisure is basically just Macquarie Leisure with a different name ie. the same CEO and management, most of the same Directors... just minus the ties with Macquarie. Although you probably already knew that

[lylefart]

I have an awesome idea and blue print for a new, shiny ride at DW. Though, due to the amount of copiers out there, I shall not share my creation, instead, I shall just say that it's going to be a special kind of coaster that kind of fits into the theming of Gold Rush Country, cos everyone should know that there is a rumoour going that a new ride is set to open on the Mine Cart Rides Footprint.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I seem to remember a conversation like this a while ago. as I recall, the follow up reply to this type of comment was "I know something you don't know"...

[lylefart]

um, u r probably talkin about someone else cos i only signed up about 3 days ago and I think I read a comment bearing a phrase just like that. Yeah, and also, um, do you know how to upload a profile picture?

[Gazza]

^I think what he means is that people in the past have made comments like "Oh, I heard such and such about DW, but I cant say anything"....which comes across as really arrogant.

I have an awesome idea and blue print for a new, shiny ride at DW. Though, due to the amount of copiers out there, I shall not share my creation, instead,

So basically, you're saying your ideas are "awesome", yet you don't have anything to back that up. You can talk the talk, but you can't walk the walk.

Yeah, and also, um, do you know how to upload a profile picture?

Scroll up and above where it say "Latest Photo" you'll see a light blue bar which says "Logged in as lylefart", on the other side, 5th link from the right says My Controls. Click that, then on the page that comes up in the menu on the right hand side under the Personal Profile is "Edit Avatar Settings"...do it in there.

[StellaHarper]

Dreamworld Australia Hi Jackson, WWE is big show business. I personally went to Smack Down last time it was here. We do like to create some big brand name relationships and this could fit in, but its all about the attraction first. What do you think the attraction could be to suit a WWE theme?

Edited June 23, 2010 by joz

[themeparkgc]

The main text is copied from Dreamworld's Facebook page (about the 6th post down).

Edited June 23, 2010 by joz