Cedar Fair Entertainment Company Names New Chief Operating Officer

© Attractions Management

Ahead of the upcoming transition of Cedar Fair's Richard Zimmermann into the CEO position, the company has announced Tim Fisher will replace him as their new Chief Operating Officer.  Mr. Fisher will take on the COO role on the 1st of January, 2018, when current CEO Matt Ouimet transitions into a position on the company's board of directors, and Mr. Zimmermann officially becomes CEO.

Mr. Fisher is coming to the company from Village Roadshow Theme Parks, which owns and operates parks and attractions in Australia and around the world, where he was most recently made the CEO of the company.  During his time at Village Roadshow their theme parks achieved record attendance, revenue and EBITDA, according to Cedar Fair's press release.  The photo featured here is from this profile on Mr. Fisher, done by Attractions Management several years ago.

He is also very familiar with the U.S. theme park market, having served decades working in it and eventually becoming executive vice president of Paramount Parks, which Cedar Fair ended up purchasing.  To that end, Mr. Fisher is a natural fit having already managed half of Cedar Fair's existing portfolio years ago, understanding the parks and their markets.  He would then also already have a working relationship with Cedar Fair's new CEO, Mr. Zimmermann, as he worked as a Paramount Parks executive as well.

"Tim is the right person at the right time to enhance the strength of our management team," said Zimmerman, Cedar Fair's president and incoming chief executive officer. "We are making significant, strategic, long-term investments within and adjacent to our parks. Tim's significant industry experience, coupled with his extensive knowledge of our parks and target markets, will deepen our management team and help us fully capitalize on all of our park-level initiatives."

With a change in leadership well underway, Cedar Fair is looking toward the future and appears to have its eye on growth.  It's not a coincidence that the company choose to include the above quote about making "significant, strategic, long-term investments within and adjacent" to their parks... sounds like there are some big plans in the works for the company.  I, like most, cannot wait to see what is in store.