PUSHING £20M STAYCATION BUTTON

PUSHING £20M STAYCATION BUTTON

PARK HOLIDAYS UK is investing £20m on new facilities as staycations continue to boom

Park Holidays UK is investing more than £20 million in its 30-plus parks this year as families seek top-end experiences in the UK as an alternative to going abroad. The company’s shopping list includes an order for 350 luxury-grade caravan holiday homes which has been placed with British manufacturers, hard-hit by the pandemic. New leisure centres, swimming pools, landscaping projects and children’s activities are also being developed as advance bookings recently reached a new record peak: “We’re braced for the busiest season in our 30-year history, and we’re determined to give guests and holiday home owners the best possible time,” said director Tony Clish. “Bookings across our parks tell us that we’ll not be waiting until summer before the holiday year starts in earnest – spring is already looking like peak season. “News of parks re-opening on 12 April, the ban on overseas travel, and the success of the vaccine roll-out has given an extra shot in the arm to the UK’s tourism industry. “That’s why our board of directors has authorised a spend of more than £20 million on hundreds of top-grade accommodation units, and new guest facilities.

RAISING THE BAR
“Our aim is always to constantly raise the bar on both the quantity and the quality of what our parks provide to people on both short breaks and longer stays. “This is especially important to us now because many bookings are coming from families who took a staycation with us in 2020, perhaps for the first time in years. “They clearly enjoyed the experience, so we want to welcome them and everyone back with facilities and attractions which will prove that UK holidays really are unbeatable,” said Mr Clish. Work is almost complete, he said, on a new £2 million pool at Dovercourt Holiday Park in Harwich, and a £1 million entertainments venue at West Mersea Holiday Park on Essex’s Mersea Island. Mr Clish added that sales of holiday homes are also rocketing, and that more than 200 new luxury lodges, villas and holiday caravans have just been released on new park developments.

STRATOSPHERIC SEASON AHEAD

STRATOSPHERIC SEASON AHEAD

Park Holidays UK is plunging £2 million into the building of a new luxury pool at Dovercourt Holiday Park in Harwich – and says its bracing itself for a staycation year ‘like no other’ in 2021. The group reports that it has given the green light to new investments across its 30-plus holiday parks as bookings for next year hit ‘stratospheric’ levels. “Make no mistake, Britain will be the place to be on holiday in 2021 and we are going to be ready for it,” says Park Holidays UK director Tony Clish. “Families will be seeking-out top quality experiences in this country as a substitute for going abroad, and that’s just what we intend to deliver,” he continued. “The group will be investing heavily this winter both in its leisure facilities, and in top quality accommodation such as luxury lodges, so nobody will feel they are getting second best.”

Many of next year’s bookings are from families who took a staycation this year and were amazed by how much more enjoyable it was than an overseas holiday. “Less hassle, less cost, beautiful countryside and coasts, and so much more for kids to enjoy - the time is now right for Britain to play up to its greatest strengths” said Tony. Work on Dovercourt’s new swimming pool began this month, and it’s planned that park guests will be dipping their toes in the water from next March with the complex’s interior decked out in a nostalgic seaside theme, plus pool-side relaxation areas and cascading slides.. Next year is likely to be the park’s busiest on record, according to Park Holidays UK. ”We do normally start to receive a flow of bookings around autumn across the group for the following year’s holidays, but this time it’s turned into a deluge,” said Tony. “We are responding by channelling major investments into our parks this winter and making sure that guests will have all of their expectations exceeded.”

Park Holidays
Tel. 0191 256 0795
www.ParkHolidays.com