Recreation, Parks and Tourism

RETHINK has a long standing commitment to recreation, parks and tourism, having facilitated and authored:

• over 30 municipal parks and recreation master plans
• provincial tourism plans for both Ontario and Saskatchewan
• provincial recreation plans for British Columbia and New Brunswick
• sport development plans for BC, Alberta and the Calgary Olympic Development Association, and
• plans for related organizations such as the Canadian Parks and Recreation Associstion, SPRA, and Parks Foundation Calgary.

We have heavily invested in three major leadership interventions designed to significantly shift the way we do business in the leisure industries:

• we have been involved in all three editions of the Benefits Catalogue – the third now an online Benefits Hub hosted by ARPA
• we provided the consulting support for the development of a Service Excellence Program for the recreation and parks field – defining core organizational competencies, practice guidelines and quality indicators
• Foresight – monitoring trends, predictions and prescriptions for the leisure industries.

Ken Balmer was an Executive Director in the YMCA system, served in several senior positions in Calgary Parks and Recreation, and served on the Board of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Calgary.  He was also President of the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association.  Kelly Daniels’ began his career as a senior local government administrator by serving as Community Services Director in both Fort Saskatchewan and Grande Prairie, Alberta, portfolios that include the parks and recreation function.

For a thought provoking look at our thoughts on the future of leisure services click here.