ADVENTURE AWAITS on Ustigate Waterplay’s Vortex Elevations™ pirate ship, where imaginative aquatic play helps holiday parks create unforgettable family memories.
Why swimming pools remain a vital investment for holiday parks...
Creating memorable guest experiences is essential for holiday parks seeking to attract new visitors and encourage repeat bookings. While accommodation and entertainment remain important, high-quality swimming pools consistently rank among the most valued facilities for families.
Heated indoor pools extend the season by providing year-round recreation, while outdoor pools and splash attractions become focal points during warmer months. Freshwater Beach Holiday Park in Dorset, for example, promotes its heated pools as one of its key family attractions.
Swimming pools offer benefits beyond recreation. They provide spaces where families can relax, exercise and spend quality time together while helping parks strengthen their competitive position and encourage repeat visits. Well-designed aquatic facilities become destination attractions in their own right.
RECENTLY REFURBISHED, the Cascades Tropical Adventure Pool is one of Ruda Holiday Park’s standout family attractions.
DESIGNING SAFE, EFFICIENT AQUATIC FACILITIES
Successful pool design prioritises safety, accessibility and efficient guest flow. Clear lifeguard visibility, well-planned circulation between pools and changing areas, and inclusive layouts all contribute to an enjoyable visitor experience.
Operating a swimming pool also requires robust management. Water quality should be maintained in line with PWTAG guidance through regular monitoring of disinfectant levels, pH and filtration.
Operators should have a Pool Safety Operating Procedure (PSOP), suitable risk assessments and appropriately qualified lifeguards where required. Pool covers also improve efficiency by retaining heat and reducing debris, helping lower maintenance costs.
INTERACTIVE WATER FEATURES create safe, engaging environments where families can play together.
CREATING VALUE THROUGH AQUATIC PLAY
Modern guests increasingly expect more than a traditional swimming pool. Interactive water play, sensory features and exciting attractions appeal to a wide range of ages while encouraging confidence in the water.
Multi-level play structures such as Vortex Elevations™ transform pools into immersive play environments with climbing elements, sprays, tipping buckets and interactive features. Their greatest advantage is the ability to entertain large numbers of guests within a compact footprint while offering activities suitable for toddlers through to older children.
This allows families with children of different ages to enjoy the attraction together, enhancing the holiday experience.
SEARLES LEISURE RESORT In Hunstanton, Norfolk, is proud of its excellent swimming pool facilities.
THE ENDURING APPEAL OF WATERSLIDES
Flumes remain among the most popular attractions in any swimming facility. Their combination of excitement, adventure and friendly competition makes them particularly attractive to families and teenagers.
Working with wiegand.waterrides, Ustigate Waterplay designs and installs stainless steel and fibreglass waterslides that meet European safety standards while incorporating engaging features and interactive elements. Adding a modern flume can significantly increase the appeal of a holiday park’s aquatic offering.
AWARD-WINNING LADRAM BAY Holiday Park creates unforgettable holiday memories with its family-focused pool and splash facilities
INCLUSIVE SPLASH PADS
Splash pads provide an accessible, inclusive water play experience for guests of all ages and abilities. Barrier-free access, ground-level play features and interactive water effects enable children, parents, grandparents and wheelchair users to enjoy the attraction together.
Unlike conventional pools, splash pads operate without standing water, reducing drowning risk and, subject to site-specific risk assessments and operating procedures, removing the need for lifeguard supervision. They also require less water than traditional pools.
Smaller installations may use flow-through systems that allow water to be reused for irrigation, while larger sites can benefit from recirculation systems that treat and recycle water in line with PWTAG guidance. Through its long-standing partnership with Vortex International, Ustigate Waterplay offers more than 150 Splashpad® products, enabling bespoke aquatic play areas tailored to each holiday park.
“Our aim has always been to create amazing memories with first-class facilities, and I think our splash zone comes right up to the mark!”
FRESHWATER BEACH HOLIDAY PARK
Freshwater Beach Holiday Park recently transformed its aquatic facilities by replacing a single-lane waterslide with a three-lane racer flume and installing a Vortex Elevations™ play structure featuring climbing activities, spray bars, cascading water effects and a tipping bucket.
Swimming Pool Manager Tristan Brookes commented: “Working with Ustigate Waterplay has been an absolute pleasure from start to finish. Their team was professional, efficient and flexible throughout the project, delivering outstanding results that exceeded expectations in both aesthetics and functionality.”
The redevelopment demonstrates how modernising existing facilities can broaden appeal across different age groups while encouraging longer stays and repeat use.
USTIGATE WATERPLAY supplies waterslides that remain among the most popular holiday park attractions, combining excitement, adventure and family fun.
LADRAM BAY HOLIDAY PARK
Award-winning Ladram Bay combines a heated indoor swimming pool with interactive splash features and seasonal outdoor water play, providing year-round aquatic entertainment for families.
Director Zoe House said: “Our aim has always been to create amazing memories with first-class facilities, and I think our splash zone comes right up to the mark!”
AWARD-WINNING LADRAM BAY Holiday Park creates unforgettable holiday memories with its family-focused pool and splash facilities
LOOKING AHEAD
Swimming pools remain one of the strongest investments available to holiday park operators. When complemented by aquatic play structures, waterslides and splash pads, they become destination experiences that appeal to guests of all ages.
Projects at Freshwater Beach and Ladram Bay demonstrate how thoughtful investment in water play can enhance guest satisfaction, differentiate parks in a competitive market and create memorable family experiences that encourage visitors to return year after year.
Freshwater Beach Holiday Park
www.freshwaterbeach.co.uk
Ladram Holiday Park
www.ladrambay.co.uk
Ruda Holiday Park
www.johnfowlerholidays.com/devon-holiday-park/ruda-holiday-park
Searles Holiday Park
www.searles.co.uk
Ustigate Waterplay
www.ustigatewaterplay.co.uk
FRESHWATER BEACH HOLIDAY PARK’S upgraded aquatic facilities, developed with Ustigate Waterplay, demonstrate how investment in water play can create memorable guest experiences for all ages.
