Stephen Gregg is to step down as CEO of Dreamworld and WhiteWater World on Australia's Gold Coast in December to concentrate on expanding a consultancy business and developing long-term tourism strategy.

Gregg has been in charge at Dreamworld for the past four and a half years and previously spent eight years as CEO of Tourism Queensland. "The last four and a half years have been the hallmark of my tourism career, the highlights of which have been leveraging strategic brand alliances with non industry icons such as The Wiggles and Mick Doohan to bring new demographic markets to the business," he said.

"WhiteWater World was two years in the planning and has operated profitably and successfully from day one, despite mounting pressures from a drought and the current economic crisis. That's something I'm extremely proud of. "I want to draw on that operational knowledge and bring that practical experience into the influential boardrooms now charting the future of our industry. We are entering one of the most challenging times in the evolution of the tourism industry and we have some big questions to tackle in order to retain our competitive edge."

Gregg will continue in his roles as chair of the Queensland Tourism Industry Council and the Sustainable Tourism Co-operative Research Centre and on 1 January 2009, he will join the board of National Park Pty Ltd, the holding company for the o'Reilly family, which this year opened the Lost World Spa in Lamington National Park.