At the start of the year, WhiteWater West named waterpark veteran and TV host Chris Perry as the company’s new executive vice president of strategic partnerships.
Anyone who’s tuned into Epic Attractions on the Travel Channel will recognise the fearless host – whether he’s harnessed to the top of Cedar Point’s Millennium Force performing the safety checks, or freefalling on a 80kph (50mph) waterslide in Area 47.
Aside from his TV fame, Perry has worked in the waterpark sector for years, a passion he inherited from his father.
“My father ran aquatic facilities when I was young,” Perry says. “I grew up around the pool doing everything from picking up garbage, to cleaning toilets, to selling season passes until I eventually became old enough to become a lifeguard.”
His experience led him to Wild Wadi, where he stayed for 15 years, eight as general manager. He oversaw the waterpark and aquatic safety for a number of hotels around the world. While there, he led his team to several industry awards and oversaw the waterpark becoming ISO and Green Globe certified.
In his new job at the Canada-based waterpark supply and design firm, Perry is taking on a more strategic role, focusing on building relationships with existing clients and partners as well as finding new business avenues. He’ll also be looking for ways WhiteWater can improve the service it provides to operators and the overall experience for guests.
“WhiteWater’s vision is to ‘create play experiences that wow the world’,” Perry says. “The company really wants to be the best. Coming from many years as a waterpark operator, I’m in an interesting position to help WhiteWater understand what clients want and what they need to do in order to deliver these ‘wow’ experiences. I’m only interested in being with a company at the leading edge, so WhiteWater is a perfect match for me.”
Although there are no current plans to produce a second season of Epic Attractions, Perry and the Travel Channel have been discussing possible collaborations in the future. We’ll have to wait and see if it will be as hair-raising.
“The scariest thing I did for Epic Attractions was being in the water with the alligators at Gatorland in Orlando,” he says. “I was thigh-deep in water with the general manager and we were feeding the gators, with no real escape route if something happened. I think my producers were just as nervous as I was.”
