marvel that sends four to six raſt riders sliding down a tunnel before dropping them up the side of a high wall in a gravity-defy- ing moment of weightlessness, then dropping them down a sloping chute. To keep the fresh ideas coming, Chutter says the company employs a 13-person new-product development team dedicated to brainstorming new ideas and asking, what if? The accountant-turned-entrepreneur is seated behind the
desk at his office in the Vancouver suburb of Richmond. Person- able and enthusiastic, at 65 Chutter has a boyish quality that suits the nature of his business. Aſter all, how many companies have a professional playologist on staff who advises on ways to appeal to our inner child? Yet delve a little deeper and a savvy, hard-driving business
strategist emerges. He has forged WhiteWater into an amuse- ment industry powerhouse that employs a workforce of 550, gen- erates about $200 million in annual sales and has built some of the world’s most spectacular waterparks, including Caribbean Bay in Yongin, South Korea, and Chimelong Waterpark in Guang- zhou, China, the world leader in attendance, with more than 2.3 million annual visitors. “WhiteWater is certainly a leader in the industry. The company produces a wide range of rides and attractions, nearly everything
32 | CPA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2017
you could want in a waterpark,” notes David Sangree, president of Hotel & Leisure Advisors, a Cleveland-based company that pre- pares feasibility studies, appraisals and economic impact studies for hotels, resorts, casinos and waterparks. According to Sangree, the waterpark industry has been
growing steadily in recent years, with more than US$550 million worth of new investment in outdoor and indoor waterparks in 2016 in the US alone. Growth is driven by several factors, includ- ing more sophisticated rides, improved technology and a greater diversity of markets. The dollar signs are getting larger as well. The cost of the equipment used in these parks ranges from US$3 million to US$25 million, depending on the size of the facility, and the largest rides can cost from US$3 million to US$5 million each. The scale of some of the recent commercial ventures is mind-boggling. Sangree says he is curious to see the public recep- tion to Volcano Bay, a massive new waterpark constructed by Uni- versal Orlando Resort that opened in May. The 12-hectare devel- opment, which is centred around a 60-metre-high artificial volcano and boasts 18 rides, was built at an estimated cost of US$600 million, according to analysts from Nomura Instinet. The rise in waterpark popularity has helped keep WhiteWater employees working at a furious pace. To date, the company has
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