Coast Entertainment Holdings Group has appointed Samantha Saunders to chief marketing officer and Luke Ingles to chief strategy officer.
The appointments build on the company’s return to positive and improving EBITDA and are designed to accelerate progress across two priorities critical to long-term value creation.
Samantha Saunders (née Clark) has been appointed chief marketing officer (CMO). She brings more than 20 years’ executive experience in customer, brand and marketing leadership across Australia and international markets.
In her role, Saunders will lead the development and execution of a comprehensive marketing strategy to drive guest attendance and build long-term brand equity across the Coast Entertainment portfolio.
As a member of the Executive Committee, she will play a key role in positioning the company’s attractions as Australia’s most loved theme parks and tourism experiences, while delivering measurable commercial outcomes aligned with the company’s strategic objectives.
Saunders’ career spans senior leadership roles across professional services, retail, media, FMCG, healthcare, humanitarian support, sport and travel. She has held roles with The Strategy Canvas, KPMG Customer Brand and Marketing Advisory, Super Retail Group, QML Pathology, News Corporation, Flight Centre, The Body Shop and Kraft Foods.
Luke Ingles has been appointed chief strategy officer (CSO), where he will lead strategy development and execution across the organisation, with a particular focus on crystallising value.
Ingles will be responsible for strengthening enterprise planning, sharpening strategic focus and ensuring disciplined execution against key priorities, while identifying opportunities to unlock currently unrealised value across the business.
He brings more than 20 years’ experience as a senior strategy and investment executive, operating at CEO and Board level across diversified corporate groups, sovereign investment environments, private equity portfolios and large multinational organisations.
Prior to joining Coast Entertainment Holdings, Ingles led Barclay Consulting, a boutique strategy firm advising CEOs and Boards across Southeast Queensland. Earlier in his career, he was a Partner at EY in advisory and transactions and held senior corporate strategy roles with Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and Tourism Development and Investment Corporation (TDIC).
Greg Yong CEO Coast Entertainment Holdings Group said: “Coast is in a genuinely exciting position,”
“We’ve rebuilt the foundations – safety, culture, financial discipline and a capital program that’s delivering – and we’re now focused on accelerating what comes next.
“Samantha brings world-class capability in brand and customer strategy at exactly the right moment. Our guest experience and marketing have improved considerably, but we have real ambition to go further – to build Dreamworld, WhiteWater World and SkyPoint into brands people feel deeply connected to, and to convert that connection into sustainable attendance and revenue growth.
“Luke has already been working closely with the business and understands our strategy intimately. His appointment reflects how central strategy and land development have become to our future. The opportunity ahead – including development of our Coomera landholding and the long runway to the 2032 Brisbane Olympics – requires disciplined, commercially rigorous thinking, and Luke brings exactly that.
“Together, these appointments significantly strengthen our leadership team and give us the capability and momentum to pursue the opportunities ahead with confidence.”
