Wonderla's ₹40 Crore Resort Push Targets Non-Ticket Bonanza

Arun Chittilappilly, the Managing Director of Wonderla Holidays Ltd, has unveiled strategies to infuse an additional ₹40 crores into resort projects, with the aim of bolstering non-ticket revenues by the conclusion of the upcoming fiscal year.

"We intend to augment our resort's offerings by incorporating convention space, an adventure park, and an additional 40 premium rooms, all geared towards amplifying our non-ticket revenues. Concurrently, we're enhancing the dining experience across all our parks. Our goal is to wrap up these initiatives within the upcoming fiscal year," shared Chittilappilly with businessline.

The company maintains a steadfast focus on non-ticket revenue streams, with Chittilappilly elaborating, "We organize numerous events, festivals, and carnivals; for instance, in the fourth quarter, we curate experiences for Holi, Women’s Day, Valentine’s Day, among others. Our objective is to attract special bookings during these occasions."

In addition to ongoing ventures, Wonderla Holidays is poised to announce forthcoming projects in Indore and Mohali, with plans underway to finalize endeavors in the NCR region. Chittilappilly affirmed the team's active pursuit of these ventures, anticipating the launch of one or two projects within the coming year.

Renowned for its amusement parks in Kochi, Bangalore, and Hyderabad, alongside a resort in Bangalore, Wonderla Holidays anticipates hiring 500 employees for its new park in Bhubaneswar, slated to open within the next six months.

Regarding the decline in net profit during the third quarter compared to the corresponding period last year, Chittilappilly attributed it to escalated employee costs stemming from recent recruitment drives. He also cited a dip in EBITDA margin due to heightened expenditures on sales promotion and marketing.

Despite these challenges, Wonderla reported a profit of ₹37.35 crore for the third quarter of FY24, marking a decrease of 4.08 per cent compared to the same quarter last year. Nonetheless, revenue from operations saw a positive growth trajectory, increasing by 9.15 per cent to ₹123.55 crore from ₹113.19 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

News by Rahul Yelligetti