Camping

Dog-Friendly Park Appeal

Posted on July 3, 2014
dogs

Woodovis Park in Devon is welcoming guests and their dogs with the introduction of a new meadow at the site.

Dog-Friendly Park Appeal

Woodovis Park in Devon has introduced a number of dog-friendly initiatives to appeal to families and couples looking to bring their four-legged friends on holiday.

Most recently the park has opened a large meadow, adjacent to the site, allowing guests and pets to roam freely. Add to this the wooded walk for strolling on lead and the dog wash facilities and guests have all the trappings for contented canines.

Park owner John Lewis said: “This part of the world, with Dartmoor and the Tamar Valley on the doorstep, is incredibly popular for holidaymakers with dogs. Not to mention the South West’s beautiful beaches nearby, many of which are dog-friendly. We are blessed with some amazing walking country as well as a number of places to eat where dogs are welcome.

“We wanted to extend our offering so that there is space for every member of the family to have a good time on holiday, and the lower meadow makes the perfect spot for dogs to roam free.”

The park has also drawn up a programme of family activities and excursions in the surrounding area which allow pets, including dog-friendly National Trust properties, pubs and restaurants, dog shows and events.

Curtain Set To Rise On Landscape Show

Posted on July 3, 2014
landscape

LANDSCAPE takes place in September 2014 at Battersea Park, central London.

Curtain Set To Rise On Landscape Show

Thousands of visitors are expected to descend on Battersea Park for the annual LANDSCAPE show, on September 23 and 24.

Established as the essential trade event, LANDSCAPE is dedicated to bringing the industry together by introducing its visitors to the latest products, services and techniques necessary to design, build and maintain prestigious interior or exterior landscaping projects.

Each year it attracts garden designers, architects, landscape contractors, local authority professionals, and facilities managers from all over the UK and abroad.

Visitors to this year’s show can take part in a comprehensive programme of free seminars, featuring some of the biggest names in the business. The show will be open to the public from 10am – 6pm on Tuesday 23rd September, and 10am – 5pm on Wednesday 24th September. Visitors can register online for free tickets at www.landscapeshow.co.uk.

Vauxhall Half Century

Posted on July 3, 2014
vauxhall

The indoor water world and outdoor splash zones are the most popular leisure facilities at the family friendly Vauxhall Holiday Park.

Vauxhall Half Century

Celebrating its 50th birthday this year, Vauxhall Holiday Park remains one of Norfolk’s most popular holiday resorts.

Offering family holidays and short breaks to suit all budgets, the five star park is a firm favorite among holidaymakers looking to visit Great Yarmouth and the Norfolk Broads.

The family owned park was founded by the late Stanley Biss in 1964, and his sons Wayne and James Biss now deal with the day-to-day running of the park. Both are supported by general manager Roger Finney and a 50-strong team of on-site staff.

Amy Woodyatt, marketing manager at Vauxhall says: “We are very proud to have recently achieved the number one spot on Tripadvisor in our category, and a certificate of excellence award.

“Our loyal customers are great ambassadors for the park, often returning a few times a year. We actively encourage feedback from guests, as we find that word of mouth and customer reviews often attract new holidaymakers.”

As one of the first parks in the country to offer caravans with running water and electric in the 1960s, Vauxhall’s accommodation options have come a long way in the last 50 years. The park now accommodates approximately 430 bespoke holiday homes, including 48 chalets, plus 200 standard camping pitches and 13 super pitches.

There is also an ongoing investment strategy to replace older holiday homes to keep at the forefront of comfort and design. This year the Vauxhall team have introduced a new and exclusive owners site, following requests from returning customers, as well as investing in a new range of holiday homes and glamping mega pods.

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Families Claim They’re Held To Holiday Ransom

Posted on July 3, 2014
ransom

Travel and teaching associations are proposing a shake-up of the school calendar so that holidays are more evenly spaced, to relieve the demand for holidays during peak times. Pic: VisitBritain.

Families Claim They’re Held To Holiday Ransom

Holiday providers have been accused of ‘holding parents to ransom’ in a flurry of media controversy surrounding the higher cost of holidays taken during school holidays.

In a price check survey, Holiday Park Scene compared the costs between ten leading holiday parks for a family of four on a week’s break in the first week of July and the first week of August. All of the breaks Holiday Park Scene looked at were more expensive during the school holidays, with most costing between 17 per cent and 78 per cent more when taken in August.

James Silvertone of Bourne Leisure comments: “We offer a very different experience on our school holiday breaks, compared to our term time breaks. It is misleading to compare the price of a school-holiday break and term-time break without understanding that two break types are very different,” he explains.

“We design our school holiday breaks around families with school-aged children which means we can offer a greatly expanded and enhanced range of entertainment and activities. We also pride ourselves on making sure that on every break we provide a range of options to families with different budgets.”

Dismayed consumers are less than happy about the out of term increases with many taking to social media and online blogs to vent their frustrations. A complaint from Paul Cookson, a father to three, drew masses of support on Facebook earlier this year and an e-petition calling for the rule on term time holiday fines to be reversed attracted more than 200,000 signatures.

Parents trying to save money by travelling in term time have faced hefty fines from education authorities for removing their children from school. Justine Roberts CEO of online family resource Mumsnet told Holiday Park Scene: “Three quarters of our users told us they think holiday companies are exploiting parents who have no other choice about the dates they travel.

“Obviously it’s hard to refute the laws of supply and demand but equally looking at it from a cost plus basis, holiday companies seem to be happily making extraordinary profits out of families and not surprisingly many feel they are being ripped off as a result.”

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Park Holidays UK Trigger £6m Investment

Posted on June 1, 2014
park hols

Encouraging Park Holidays UK investment decision, was a start to the year which saw the highest-ever volume of holiday sales in its 25-year history, despite the turbulent weather. Pic: Park Holidays UK.

Park Holidays UK Trigger £6m Investment

Park Holidays UK has announced a multimillion investment programme for 2014 which will see new features and facilities introduced at all of its parks in south and west England.

The group says that the aim is to make the holiday experiences of guests even more appealing, and to ensure that the parks maintain quality standards of the highest order.

The schedule of work for the £6 million investment was drawn up with the assistance of feedback from its many holiday home owners. In a survey at the start of this year, homeowners were invited to submit a wishlist of what would improve the quality of their holiday lifestyles.

Partly as a result of the consultation, Park Holidays UK parks will see enhanced gym and fitness facilities, professional landscaping, redesigned restaurants and bars, and improved roads and lighting.

“Owners of holiday homes, who often spend many weeks of the year on our parks, are ideally placed to tell us what they consider would improve their experience,” said Tony Clish, group director of Park Holidays UK. “Their suggestions benefit the tens of thousands who come each year for short breaks and holidays, and work has already started on many of their recommendations.”

Other investments will include the proposed redevelopment of the group’s popular Riviera Holiday Park in Brixham. Subject to planning consent, the project will include the introduction of 75 extra holiday lodges and a new management building which will include a café/bar and gym facilities.

Riding The Waves

Posted on May 4, 2014
waves

A highlight at Golden Coast is the Wavesurfer simulator, allowing guests to brush up on their surfing and body boarding skills.

Riding The Waves

Capitalising on a prime seaside location, Woolacombe Bay Holiday Parks own and operate four 4-star holiday parks around the village of Woolacombe in North Devon.

Frequently voted the best beach in Britain, the location is a unique mix of sandy beaches, rolling fields and the rugged beauty of Exmoor National Park, all within a stone’s throw of the Woolacombe Bay sites.

Kevin Darvill, sales and marketing director at Woolacombe Bay comments: “The most crucial aspect to the success of our parks has to be the beach. Woolacombe’s beach is quite simply gorgeous and offers everything from a traditional bucket and spade holiday to surfing. Of course the beach alone isn’t enough to encourage customers to stay with us and for that we try to ensure we offer lots for every age to do and great places to stay.”

The family run business was established over 50 years ago, and the four parks now welcome international and UK guests from February to November each year. The parks are hire fleet only, meaning that there are no caravan sales activities, but the company does offer caravans, lodges, villas, apartments and traditional farmhouses along with high quality camping and touring facilities at all four parks.

“We’ve seen big changes in where customers want to stay,” explains Kevin. “A few years ago smaller, older caravans were in demand as budget options, but over the past couple of years there really has been a trend for extended families with several generations or two families sharing higher quality caravans. In response to this, we recently replaced a fifth of all our caravans, meaning our average caravan age is now just 3 years old.” He adds: “Then there’s the rise in popularity of the short break. A week’s holiday in July and August is still the mainstay at those times, but in term time we’ve had to adapt to more short breaks and change the offering to suit the demographic.”

Golden Coast is the company’s biggest park, offering 342 rental units and 93 touring pitches, plus the widest range of leisure facilities, including a ten lane bowling alley, a 17th Century pub and a high ropes course. Making the most of the park’s Atlantic facing location, a surf school and unique surfing simulator enables guests to try surfing no matter what their ability.

“Customers are always looking for something new and different, wanting the best experience they can get for their hard earned holiday time. There’s a continuous demand for new activities, particularly those that can be used whatever the weather. In the run up to and after the Olympics we saw a big demand for more sports activities to, so we’ve introduced sports complexes at all our parks,” says Kevin.

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Woolacombe Bay Holiday Parks
Tel. 0843 2080 377
www.woolacombe.co.uk

Park Focus: Hendra Holiday Park

Posted on May 2, 2014
Hendra

Hendra Holiday Park in Newquay is one of Cornwall’s largest parks, welcoming 380,000 visitors per year.

Park Focus: Hendra Holiday Park

For over 42 years, Hendra Holiday Park in Newquay has been a popular tourist destination for families and couples looking to explore the Cornwall coastline from the comfort of a 5-star caravan and camping site.

The family-run park has been owned and operated by three generations of the May and Hyatt families since it opened as a touring and camping park in 1972. Static holiday homes were added to the site in the mid 80’s and the park now boasts over 300 holiday homes and 500 touring, camping and motorhome pitches. Both May and Hyatt families still live on the site and are actively involved in the day to day running of the park.

Jon Hyatt, director at Hendra Holiday Park comments: “Our philosophy is to offer great family holidays for all budgets at the highest, 5 star quality standard. We invest heavily on an annual basis to improve, upgrade, build and install new facilities for our guests, to not only fulfil, but surpass their expectations.”

The park has a high profile among holidaymakers and is one of the largest in the county. The 80 acre site provides guests with various catering options, a supermarket, indoor and outdoor children’s play facilities as well as sports and entertainment activities. But as Jon explains, the park must constantly evolve to keep up with customer demand: “I would say the biggest challenge we face is continuing to meet the needs of an increasingly sophisticated market with higher and higher expectations from a holiday.” He adds: “Whilst Cornwall remains the UK’s favourite holiday destination, household spending on holidays has been reduced and competition from cheap overseas destinations with guaranteed weather is very strong.”

Continuous development and investment into the facilities and services has won Hendra numerous awards and accreditations including a National Quality Assured Scheme 5 star grading, an AA 5 Pennant award, and a Cornwall Tourism Award for Holiday Park of the Year and Sustainable Tourism. Most recently Hendra’s Fish & Chip Takeaway won Seasonal Fish & Chip Operator of the Year at the Seafish National Fish & Chip Awards.

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Hendra Holiday Park
Tel. 01637 875778
www.hendra-holidays.com

 

East Devon Park Leads Green Tourism

Posted on November 29, 2013

The multi-award winning, family-run, Oakdown Holiday Park is the only holiday park in East Devon to hold an AA Five Star pennant.

East Devon Park Leads Green Tourism

In the past year alone, Oakdown Holiday Park on the Jurassic Coast in East Devon, has received seven coveted awards – among them a Highly Commended Visit England Award for Excellence 2013, Practical Caravan Magazine’s Best Green Site 2013 and a 16th consecutive David Bellamy Gold Environmental Award.

Oakdown is owned and run by the Franks Family; Doreen and Roger, Alastair and Andrianna and their team of dedicated staff. It is the only holiday park in East Devon to hold an AA Five Star pennant 2013/2014 – the equivalent of a top star rated hotel.

Oakdown Holiday Park is located between Branscombe and Sidmouth on the East Devon Heritage coast and lies within East Devon’s designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Its owners, The Franks family, have farmed the area for five generations, introducing the first static holiday caravan to the farm in 1951 and opening as Oakdown Holiday Park, catering for campers and touring caravans as well as statics, 21 years later.

Now, with 16 luxurious caravan leisure lodges, 150 landscaped pitches for touring caravans, motor homes and tents and 55 privately owned caravan holiday homes, the 20 acre park welcomes several hundred guests during peak season weeks and 2013 has been a very busy year for the family run park with the beautiful British sunshine making an all important appearance.

The Franks continue to work hard to maintain a consistently high level of customer satisfaction and strive to be top of the game in all aspects of holiday park life. The driving factor behind what they do came from the vision to become a ‘green’ holiday park - a vision that was established before the concept of green tourism was even invented. Oakdown was the recipient of one of the very first David Bellamy Gold Environmental Awards in 1997 – an accolade it has continued to be awarded every year for the past 16 years.