1969

---

in 1980, Geoff Chutter was "pledged to the underside of the nose", and the owner of a Brand New water park.

The then-28-year-old had a slip with no prior experience of working in The World of the giant water-and pools, but he thought it would be More fun to work as an Accountant . So he decided, on his own.

Geoff had previously, for five years an employee at the auditing firm KPMG in Canada, Until One day, he came across the country was The First water Park in the Western Province of British Columbia .

He was sent there on a work task, and he was immediately intrigued. "It had some of the basic component, which I thought was great fun," Says Geoff .

"How good would it be to spend your life putting smiles on families," faces?"

Geoff Chutter, pictured here in 1981, and never looked back, after he changed careers

So inspired, he decided to end The Day with work, take a leap of faith, and to open Canada's second water park. Merger with a business partner, he's 18 acres of land found in The City of Penticton, British Columbia , and a constructed.

Fast Forward 40 Years , and Geoff business - wild-water-West - is today The World 's largest designer and manufacturer of water parks.

As he opened it, the First Park in 1980, Geoff Says it was "very much the house on The Line , the savings on The Line - were Modest as you." He adds: "In the reflection, the only thing that is even More naive than I, was The Royal Bank of Canada [who gave us The Money ]. "

At The Time , the stuck shoes the water parks Industry in the children, with The First modern attraction opening in Florida in 1977. So Geoff couldn't just buy, in films, or even some of the consequences of already developed plans. Instead, he had to design and build his park from the ground up to create a collaboration with an engineering office, all of it.

During The Park 's first summer, something fortuitous happened. "Four [separate] fellows came up and said:" Gee, I'd like to do that in my home town. How would you do it?'" he Says .

Geoff ended with the signing of the contracts for the construction of four New Parks , three in Canada And One in Washington State in the USA.

Geoff , left, in 1981, moved to the possession of water Park design for other

starting his new employment he had soothed his tension with the thought that, if this failed endeavor miserably, he had to always fall back on accounting.

riding But that First Wave of success, he Says , that he "frankly never Looking Back ".

Three years after his park opened, he sold it to divest completely from The Park ownership and operations to instead focus on the water slide and swimming pool design, engineering, manufacturing, and delivery.

This story is from a new mini-series called pathways to success

Today, the water is wild and has 600 employees around The World , and the projects on six continents, from Russia to India, Brazil, the USA, Australia and South Africa .

With annual sales of $200m (£116m), The Company works with all of the hotels to the theme Park giants like Disney, for whom it is designed, the big Typhoon Lagoon wave pool in Orlando, Florida.

"We are the Big Boys in the Industry - we are The Gorillas in the Living Room , that's for sure," Says Geoff .

The Wild Wadi Waterpark in Dubai from whitewater

The water Park has the Industry boomed over the decades, with 30. 9 million visits to The Top 20 water parks in The World , alone, in the year 2018, according to the Industry -wide figures. To try to stay ahead of The Curve in an Industry that is always in search of greater adventures and new experiences, Geoff Says that The Company is focused on innovation.

Teams of designers, architects, and engineers are working at the head office in Vancouver, to create in addition to artists and sculptors, which slides next to the popular water and other watery attractions.

While some of the white water North -American rivals have not expanded outside of the U.S. and Canada, Geoff Says that he always liked to build a truly global presence.

", paths - > success

More from the

He writes and The Time he spent in France as a Teenager , he attended the American School of Paris, from 1966 to 1969 - with him to see The World "very much smaller" and that "it is your oyster". So, he was striving always, the possibilities of the expansion of The Company worldwide.

"We saw our Competition - North America - scared to dare to do something," he Says . "So we went in Asia, we went to Europe . "

sometimes he Says The Company was warned by skeptics that water parks don't only work in some countries. For example, In Japan, where whitewater opened its first overseas project in the year 1988, there were concerns that the Japanese women would be too concerned about the sunlight, to give you a hug, a water Park.

"But up to This Day , is our Number One participation day was a blast with 68,000 in a park in Tokyo, completely to that theory," he Says .

sculptor at wild water Canadian Central craft park theme rides

The Company has also been said that modesty is concerned, would say that is a success in the Middle East , but Geoff , that women-only events in a park in Dubai a hit.

"A lot of cultures we have in, we have said: "Nice idea, but you will fail because'," Says Geoff . "[But], the components of the water, sun, family, Friends - They are very powerful when They are together. "

The Company now has offices in Barcelona, Dubai and Shanghai and production facilities in Turkey, the Philippines and Canada.

David Sangree, the presence of the consulting house Hotel & leisure Advisors, Says that Geoff was the stewardship of The Wild water "impressive".

his attention to the larger water park Industry , Mr. Sangree Says that it is expected to only continue to grow, especially in Africa and parts of Asia, where The Market is not yet fully developed.

"you have a growing middle class in The World , to love people, to spend time with your children on The World , and water parks are certainly a fun alternative," he adds Sangree.

Geoff Chutter, Says see how your child's eyes Light Up with excitement brings the parents Back To a park

Back at the whitewater headquarters, Geoff is particularly fond of the development and construction of surf-swimming pools.

"I think it will be huge fun to be able to say, surfing in Saskatoon, surfing in Toronto, and They have removed The World -class waves [miles from the sea]," he Says .

It sounds More pleasant than an Accountant .

entrepreneurship, canada, leisure, vancouver

Source of news: bbc.com