North East holiday company Parkdean Resorts is set to unveil three new 鈥榩arks of the future鈥 as part of a massive 拢70m investment programme.
The Gosforth firm, which operates 67 caravan, lodge, cabin, glamping and camping holiday resorts around the 海角视频, is gearing up for a year of rapid recovery with international travel restrictions amid the pandemic triggering a staycation boom.
Following on from last year鈥檚 investment programme of 拢70m, the company 鈥 owned by Canadian private equity firm Onex 鈥 has pledged a further 拢70m to be spent across the estate.
Investments over the last couple of years have included luxury safari tents, lodges with hot tubs, premium static caravans and refurbished chalets.
Part of the latest spend will include 拢12m on the creation of three new 鈥榩arks of the future鈥, after testing out the initiative in four locations last year.
The 'parks of the future' initiative create state-of-the-art amenities including accommodation, park facilities and kids鈥 activity-based entertainment such as the Bear Grylls Survival Academy, which is now available at eight sites.
Within the North East, the firm owns Church Point in Newbiggin-by-the-Sea; Cresswell Towers at Druridge Bay; Crimdon Dene near Hartlepool; Sandy Bay in Ashington; and the Whitley Bay park, and the firm will soon unveil its investment plans at local level.
Parkdean Resorts reported encouraging trading on its four existing 鈥榩arks of the futures鈥, where the accommodation, activities and food and drink have appealed to a wide range of customers. Despite the pandemic affecting a large part of 2020 revenue in the year to December 31 2020 was 拢348m, down from 拢453.2m in 2019.
The company says it has also seen rising demand for the purchase of holiday homes, buoyed by customers wanting to spend more quality time with family and friends.
Steve Richards, chief executive of Parkdean Resorts, said: 鈥淒espite trading for less than four months of the year, whilst under strict covid restrictions, Parkdean proved exceptionally resilient in 2020, generating 拢58m Ebitda which is equivalent to 54% of the prior year profits.
鈥淥ur first priority was the safety of our employees, holiday-home owners and guests, and our team worked incredibly hard to create amazing memories for our holidaymakers.
"I am immensely proud of the commitment and hard work of our people. We are very well placed to benefit from the staycation boom and look forward to a year of rapid recovery ahead.
鈥淲e continue to invest significantly in our parks and customer experience, with exciting new activities and facilities. We also have invested in new accommodation from luxury safari tents to lodges with hot tubs, premium static caravans and newly refurbished chalets.
鈥淲e offer a great variety of accommodation and prices to meet every need and budget and have put in place industry-leading covid-safety standards. It is great to welcome our holidaymakers and owners back, to enjoy everything our parks, and the beautiful British countryside and coastlines, have to offer.鈥
