Issue #32 October 2016
Colin Balfour - back on the team
Having taken a two-year sabbatical with the Campervan & Motorhome Club of Australia (CMCA), working on a range of projects, I am now back with Mary at Balfour Consulting P/L, refreshed, rejuvenated and raring to go.
After 15 years as a management consultant and almost 20 years in Townsville, I felt a real need to change both my location and operational outlook to restore my enthusiasm levels. It seems two years in Brisbane has done the trick!
As I am planning to remain in Brisbane, Balfour Consulting has now expanded its services with offices in both Townsville and Brisbane.
Colin offers our clients:
- Over 30 years of senior management and consulting experience in the public and private sectors.
- Particular skills and experience in strategic planning, strategic management, market and social research and marketing planning.
- Extensive experience in the design and development of research projects.
- Extensive experience in project development and managing change.
- Over 14 years consulting experience in North Queensland supporting a broad range of businesses along with Federal, State and local government entities.
Colin offers national and international experience in strategic management, marketing management and project analysis roles in Australia, New Zealand, South-East Asia and Europe. Colin brings to Balfour Consulting extensive expertise in the fields of tourism, retail and services management.
Colin - The past two years
At CMCA, my key responsibility for initial development of the club's key RV Park Project to set up the first member-only RV Park network in Australia, through leasing land from Councils and State government. I established Australia’s first club-based RV Park at Ingham and by the middle of 2016 had identified a further 14 potential sites, actively engaged a further 40 councils across Australia in identifying opportunities and involved more than 80 councils with the project. I also presented the project to a range of regional tourism organisations, five State tourism bodies, key tourism industry organisations and two state tourism Ministers.
This experience provided me a more holistic view of RV tourism in Australia and a broader understanding the challenges faced by State and local government in trying to maximise the tourism benefits this market can deliver. RV tourism is undergoing significant change due to the massive growth in RV registrations Australia-wide and the associated demand for diversified accommodation options, mainly driven by baby boomers moving into retirement.
I am really looking forward to working on projects focussed on RV tourism, to achieve managed and sustainable growth in the market to the benefit regional communities.