First Guests Arrive At Center Parcs Woburn Forest

Posted on July 3, 2014

Center Parcs Woburn Forest Village is predicted to inject £20 million into the local economy.

First Guests Arrive At Center Parcs Woburn Forest

Center Parcs has welcomed its first guests to the new Woburn Forest village in Bedfordshire.

The doors were officially opened at the fifth Center Parcs village on Friday June 6th, with an estimated 350,000 guests expected to visit each year. It is hoped that the village will inject over £20 million into the regional economy annually.

Martin Dalby, CEO of Center Parcs, said: “After years of hard work, dedication and passion, we’re thrilled to be welcoming our first guests to Woburn Forest and strongly believe the new village has all the ingredients for a very special family break”

The new village boasts Center Parcs’ largest Subtropical Swimming Paradise, along with an Aqua Sana spa, 625 lodges, a 75 bedroom hotel, six spa suites and a host of restaurants, shops and leisure activities.

Woburn Forest is one of the largest development projects of its kind in Britain for many years and represents a £250 million investment. Center Parcs owners Blackstone invested £100 million in the project whilst the remaining £150 million was financed from four UK lending banks.

“Center Parcs Woburn Forest will provide a massive boost to the area,” says Martin. “In addition to the 1,200 people employed in the construction of Woburn Forest, we have recruited and trained 1,500 employees, most of which live within a 15 mile radius. These are local jobs for young local people.”

Last year Center Parcs welcomed 1.7 million guests to its four existing Villages, the opening of Woburn Forest will increase that figure to over 2 million.

UK Campsites Celebrate

Posted on May 7, 2014

The winners of the AA Caravan & Camping Awards 2014 were presented with their awards in a ceremony at the Aztec Hotel in Bristol.

UK Campsites Celebrate

A selection of the UK’s best campsites have been honoured at this year’s AA Caravan and Camping Awards ceremony.

Representatives from campsites across the country gathered at the Aztec Hotel in Bristol to recognise the front runners within the camping and caravan park industry. Although the awards have been running for over two decades, this was the first time the winners have been celebrated at an official lunch.

Receiving top honours, Polmanter Touring Park in Cornwall was named as the overall Best Campsite of the Year. The five star graded park offers a mix of hard standing and grass pitches with modern catering and leisure facilities, close to the picturesque fishing port of St Ives.

Phil Osborne of Polmanter said: “We are delighted that Polmanter has received this prestigious award. We are the third generation of the Osborne family to run the site, and we always listen to our customers and think about what they would like.

“This, along with insight gained camping with our own young family, has helped to inspire the provision of individual shower rooms, baby bath rooms and a weekly party for younger visitors in school holidays; alongside our ongoing commitment to provide a warm welcome, spotless, modern facilities and spacious pitches.” Phil added: “Our team take great pride in the site and taking care of our guests, and we are really pleased that the high standards that they help us to achieve at Polmanter have been rewarded.”

Cairnsmill Holiday Park in St Andrews, Fife scooped the award for Best Campsite of the Year in Scotland, and the Best Campsite of the Year in Wales went to Tyddyn Isaf Caravan Park in Dulas, Isle of Anglesey.

The awards ceremony also marked the official launch of the AA Caravan and Camping Guide, now in its 46th year. The guide has details of over 900 fully inspected and independently graded camping parks across England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

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Summer Set To Be The Hottest On Record

Posted on May 6, 2014

Holiday parks across the UK and Eire should be gearing up for a sizzling summer according to German weather experts. Pic: Hendra Holiday Park.

Summer Set To Be The Hottest On Record

It may have been the wettest winter in a hundred years, but the UK holiday industry should be getting set for a sizzling summer, if we are to believe scientists, who are 75 per cent certain that 2014 will be the hottest on record for the UK and Eire.

The weather is being linked to the El Niño pattern, which occurs when waters on the Pacific equator become unusually warm, which can lead to disruptive changes in ocean and wind currents across the globe. In a study published by the PNAS journal, scientists in Germany claim they are able to forecast El Niño trends a year in advance, up from six months currently forecast, LiveScience reported.

Meanwhile VisitBritain is forecasting a record-breaking 2014 for tourism. The national tourism agency is expecting an increase of 2% in overseas visitor numbers, resulting in an estimated spend of around £21.5 billion, representing growth of 4.2% in nominal terms.

Sandie Dawe, chief executive at VisitBritain said: “Government investment in the millions will bring tourism returns in the billions. This year is set to be a record – it just goes to show what can be achieved with a clear strategy and cooperation across all the major Government agencies promoting Britain overseas.”

It is business as usual for holiday park operator Park Holidays UK, who announced a record number of bookings in January and February, despite many of their parks being located in areas worst hit by winter’s savage storms. The company’s 23 parks are all based on the coast across Devon and southern and eastern England where some of the strongest winds, highest tides and most persistent downpours were measured. Holiday guests, it says, are unlikely to find any trace of the batterings received from the weather which caused millions of pounds worth of damage to other parks in Britain. March opening “We suspected that the affected parks would be fully dried out in time for our March opening, but thought it fair to offer booked customers a refund, or change of date or park. We’ve also been able to assure all of our of holiday home owners that their properties have successfully weathered the storms, and are now awaiting their return,” said group director Tony Clish.

The government has recently launched a £10 million scheme to provide hardship funding for SME businesses in areas affected by the floods. Eligible businesses will be able to claim for funding for things like immediate clean-up costs, materials, and exceptional costs to help them continue trading. If any affected company is unable to file accounts or other documents on time as a direct result of the floods, Companies House will agree an extension and not collect the penalties which apply for late filings. The helpline number to call for more information is 0300 456 3565.

Riding The Waves

Posted on May 4, 2014

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 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

Woodovis Park

Posted on April 23, 2014

The team offer a great warm welcome to guests and the park has been named as a finalist for the Hoseasons' Diamond Award for customer care.

Woodovis Park

Proving that bigger isn’t always better, the multi award-winning Woodovis Park is a small, peaceful 5 star holiday park nestled on the edge of Devon’s Tamar Valley. Offering a mix of camping, glamping, touring and luxury caravan options, the park has scooped many top level awards in recent years for its excellent facilities and services.

Owner John Lewis comments: “We have over 21,000 bed nights per season. During the shoulder seasons we tend to attract either families with preschool children or retired folk, looking for a great value holiday in a particularly quiet time. During the school holidays our guests are made up of families who are looking for great facilities in a peaceful and safe setting. “We find that our glamping offerings attract young professional couples all year round – most of whom are looking for the outdoor experience with all the comforts that our pod and super pods provide.” Now in its fifteenth year of ownership by John and Dorothy Lewis, the park employs eight full-time staff and is a member of Best of British, a group of 50 independently owned 5 star holiday parks.

On-site facilities include an indoor solar-heated swimming pool, spa and infra-red therapy sauna, with weekly archery and ‘water walking’ in the pool. There’s also an indoor games room and outdoor table tennis. “With a return visitor rate in excess of 70% year on year undoubtedly the biggest marketing tool is word of mouth recommendation,” explains John. “This is closely followed by the internet and especially review sites such as Trip Advisor where Woodovis Park scores five stars and was recently a recipient of a Certificate of Excellence.” He adds: “The biggest challenge for us is the unpredictable English weather, which is why we have ensured that Woodovis Park is well placed to deal with this.

There is a vast range of indoor facilities to keep guests occupied during bad weather.” One of the park’s unique selling points is its commitment to being energy efficient and environmentally friendly; it was recently named the Best Holiday Park & Camping Site in Britain by the world’s leading sustainable tourism accreditation programme, the 2013 Green Tourism Goldstar Awards. It also received a gold David Bellamy Award last year and a gold in the Green Tourism Business Scheme. John explains: “Our mission is to provide exceptional facilities for our guests, whilst maintaining our green integrity. It’s easy to reel off green platitudes, but at Woodovis we try to make it a natural part of the way the business is run.

The beauty of our park and surrounding areas is one of the main reasons visitors come here and we want to sustain that for generations to come.” Maintaining their dedication to providing excellent facilities and services for their guests, the park owners will be implementing a number of improvements to the site during the year. John explains: “New for the 2014 season will be the dog exercise meadow where dogs can run off the lead. Also, following guest feedback, a new loo and chemical disposal point is being installed to serve the Tamar View Field. As part of a planned rolling replacement programme, a brand new Finch Holiday Home will join the hire fleet and dates are being added during the school holidays for performances from internationally acclaimed story tellers.”

Woodovis Park

Email : info@woodovis.com
www.woodovis.com

Pick Of The Bunch

Posted on April 16, 2014

The Thistle Holidays Parks initiative focuses on promoting the quality of Scotland’s best holiday and camping parks.

Pick Of The Bunch

Recognising and promoting the very best holiday and caravan parks in Scotland is the core aim of the Thistle Holiday Park scheme.
By supporting its members with marketing initiatives throughout the year, the scheme provides holiday makers with above: The Thistle Holidays Parks initiative focuses on promoting the quality of Scotland’s best holiday and camping parks with information and advice, allowing them to make an informed decision when choosing a holiday destination.
Many holiday parks and attractions already support the scheme, including Discovering Distilleries, Edinburgh Woollen Mill, Historic Scotland, the Forestry Commission Scotland and the National Trust for Scotland.
Thistle project manager Judith Sleigh, explains: “Good quality and good value will continue to be important to holidaymakers, and as we offer both, our members are able to profit. The challenge, however, in an era when cheap flights abroad to guaranteed sunshine, is that Thistle Parks continue to improve their product and establish themselves as being in the forefront of the industry.”
Recently, parks involved in the scheme have been able to take full advantage of the staycation trend which kicked in with the economic downturn, due to domestic visitors looking for holidays which offer both good quality and good value for money in Scotland and England.
By joining the scheme, holiday parks can benefit from a number of marketing tools to promote their park. All members are entitled to an entry in the Thistle brochure, which is distributed at over 10,000 information centres and is downloadable from the website. The brochure is also circulated at various exhibitions and trade shows throughout the year, and a further 600 copies are mailed out to those on the Thistle database. Members are also entitled to an editable entry on the Thistle website, which receives over 80,000 visitors per year.
To become a member, caravan parks must meet certain criteria; firstly the parks must be awarded four or five stars by VisitScotland. They must also have high quality lodges and holiday home caravans, and at least some touring pitches on firm ground, with links to services and facilities. David Halley, current chairman of Thistle Holiday Parks, says: “As the owner of a small park on Loch Lomond, I joined Thistle because of the extra promotion and also because I felt that the industry had to work together and Thistle offered the right vehicle for this by enabling us to get to the market, as a group, with the right message in the right way. Having Tourism Scotland as the project manager means that the promotion is professionally handled; the owners are running their parks and don’t have time to devote to marketing.”
The Thistle Holidays Parks scheme began back in the 1970’s and was a joint initiative between the tourism industry and the Scottish Tourist Board. The Board was one of the first to undertake a wide-ranging inspection of both serviced and self-catering accommodation in a drive to improve the quality of facilities and services. Caravan parks were able to have their holiday home caravans checked against a precise set of criteria, which included fixed heating throughout, mains drainage, and double-glazing.
In 2012, the Scottish Tourist Board, renamed VisitScotland, handed Thistle Holiday Parks over to the industry, to a committee which included owners and managers of parks of various sizes and types. The concept of Thistle Parks was extended to include touring as well as self-catering, but the criteria for inclusion continued to be based on high quality.
David Key, Regional Director of Parkdean Holidays has also been closely involved in the initiative since it began: “The industry was keen to work with the Scottish Tourist Board in order to raise the overall quality of the parks by encouraging them to invest in their product. We appreciated the fact that the board gave considerable funding to support the scheme in order to promote the high quality of the parks and their accommodation. Parkdean, with six parks in Scotland, felt and still do that being a member of Thistle is important.”

Tel. +44 (0)1651 806014
Email. Tourism.Scotland@btopenworld.com
www.thistleparks.co.uk

Part Exchange: A Win-Win Option

Posted on March 24, 2014

Peace of mind from the certainty gained was the main benefit of part exchange for Yvonne and Bill King, who are now happily enjoying their new lifestyle.

Part Exchange: A Win-Win Option

If you want to increase your park home sales, but are finding it difficult to secure buyers, part exchange could be the answer.
Quick Move Properties is the UK’s largest property part exchange company, allowing new home and park home providers to offer risk-free, hassle-free and guaranteed part exchange on their customers’ existing homes as an incentive for them to purchase onward.
“Usually, customers use our service if they need to sell a second home, an investment property or an inherited property in order to release capital to purchase their holiday home,” explains a spokesperson for Quick Move Properties. “Or, others are downsizing and use the equity released from their existing property to purchase a smaller property and a holiday home.
“We work with leisure parks, leisure home manufacturers and individual vendors. To date, over 5,000 properties have been purchased through Quick Move, with a total value of £725 million.”

MARKET VAGARIES
Bill and Yvonne King were interested in using part exchange to avoid the vagaries of the housing market when selling their existing property, but didn’t think it could be as straightforward as it appeared. Bill comments: “I looked into part exchange and liked everything about it, particularly the speed at which a sale could be completed, even though at this stage I had no idea how high the service level would be.”
He adds: “I did my research, asked lots of questions and asked for an offer, I was aware that it would be below market value but I was pleasantly surprised. I worked out that although I may have achieved a bit more on the open market, when you then take out the £6,000 estate agency fees and the £1,000 solicitor fees that you don’t have to pay with Quick Move Properties’ part exchange, it suddenly became a relatively small price to pay for all the time, stress and risk we saved.”
Peace of mind from the certainty gained was the main benefit of part exchange for the Kings. They knew exactly how much money they were going to get and on exactly which date, with no worrying about the sale falling through.

Quick Move Properties
Email. px@quickmoveproperties.co.uk
Parks team: +44 (0)1793 840907
Vendors team: +44 (0) 1793 840931
www.quickmoveproperties.co.uk

Seal Of Approval

Posted on February 24, 2014

Seal Of Approval

The Approved Family Friendly scheme gives an assurance of confidence to families who are searching for quality providers who cater for their requirements.

Holiday parks and leisure services in the UK’s most popular seaside resorts are being encouraged to gain a stamp of approval from Approved Family Friendly (AFF) to prove they excel at being a family friendly resort.

With several holiday parks and hotels already benefitting from the accreditation, the scheme recently gained the full support of both Visit Cornwall and Blackpool Tourism.

The Approved Family Friendly trust mark scheme was developed in 2011 by parents for parents, and is the gold standard indicator of quality and trust for families searching for providers. When planning a day out with the kids or an annual family holiday AFF’s easy to recognise symbol gives parents peace of mind when choosing where to go.

Natalie Wyatt, managing director of Marketing Blackpool, says it is a great move for businesses to adopt to ensure they are attractive to as many families as possible. “By applying for and gaining the Approved Family Friendly seal there can be no doubt that these businesses are really going the extra mile for their guests and customers and that can only be an added attraction to families when they are planning their visit.”

There is a list of relevant requirements to gain the trust mark, with key indicators depending on the type of business being assessed. Requirements for accommodation providers include non-smoking family rooms, while attractions must provide services such as bottle warming, breastfeeding welcome and food outlets need to include facilities such as baby changing, high chairs and children’s menus.

More information on the scheme can be found at www.approvedfamilyfriendly.com

Stonehenge Campsite Wins Green Award

Posted on January 27, 2014

A camping park near Stonehenge, now a popular spot for pagan weddings, has won a special environmental award from TV botanist David Bellamy.

Stonehenge Campsite Wins Green Award

Stonehenge Campsite, where summer solstice festivals and pagan weddings are among the attractions, is one of Southern England’s greenest places to stay says botanist David Bellamy.
The camping park, which also provides glamping pods, has scooped a top gold accolade in the David Bellamy Conservation Awards to add to its ever-growing list of honours.
Located in Berwick St James, two miles west of the new £28 million Stonehenge visitor centre, the park opened five years ago on part of a nine-acre smallholding of naturally screened pastureland.
A recent report by assessors from David Bellamy’s Conservation Foundation, which administers the award scheme, said the park was a haven for many different types of fauna and flora.
Open all year, the park attracts guests from all over the world, especially during the annual summer solstice festival in June. Two pagan weddings have already been held on the park, and others booked and planned.
Owner William Grant said: “For over a hundred years my family has farmed this area through three generations, and it is a very special part of England both to us and to many other people. I hope we are showing that tourism enterprises such as ours can work in harmony with the natural world whilst bringing significant economic benefits to rural regions.”