Macquarie whets investor interest with new water park

Macquarie Leisure Trust Group has announced it will pour investment capital of $56 million into a new water theme park on Queensland’s Gold Coast.

Called Dreamworld Water Park, it will form part of the Dreamworld complex but be a stand-alone water park.

Macquarie has backed the new development after international experience showed water parks offered better returns on investment in comparison to other types of theme parks, and required less continual capital re-investment.

The project is expected to deliver an internal rate of return of between 16 and 20 per cent with earning accumulation already forecast from the first year of trading.

The water park will concentrate on attracting patronage from the domestic tourism market with minimal reliance on overseas visitors.

“The development reinforces the group’s focus on domestic leisure with little risk exposure to changes in international attendance,” Macquarie Leisure Trust Group chief executive Greg Shaw said.

Macquarie is also looking to leverage off Dreamworld to attract interest in the new park as well as achieve administrative efficiencies. Initiatives being planned along these lines include cross-marketing campaigns, the ability to offer ‘two-park’ passes, and the opportunity to use the existing administration support and marketing resources of Dreamworld.

The park represents the first new theme park development on the Gold Coast in 14 years and is expected to be completed by December 2006.