Holiday park firm predicts record season
A LEADING holiday park operator is predicting a rise in visitor numbers this summer thanks to an ongoing staycation boom.
Away Resorts says bookings are up nearly 20 per cent on pre-Covid levels at the six sites it had in 2019.
The group has expanded rapidly since then.
It comes despite the easing of Covid restrictions on foreign breaks.
However, demand for overseas holidays is believed to have been dented by nervousness over Covid rules in destinations, passport delays and travel chaos at airports and ports.
Carl Castledine, chief executive of Away Resorts, said: “At the moment there is a lot of hassle when it comes to holidaying abroad.
“But we are also seeing an increasing number of people who are really enjoying the UK.”
Mr Castledine said customers were still wary, with a large number of current bookings made within around three weeks of taking a trip.
He added that its holiday prices were around 10 per cent higher this year on a like-for-like basis compared with 2019, a reflection of soaring costs and investment.
A surge in the cost of everything from wood to electrical appliances meant the price of new static caravans which it sells was around 25 per cent higher this year.
Private equity giant CVC Capital Partners bought a majority stake in Away Resorts last June.
Weeks later, CVC snapped up a second holiday park operator, Aria Resorts, and merged it with Away Resorts.
Then in December Away Resorts bought Coppergreen Leisure Resorts, expanding the group to 27 sites with expected visitor numbers of more than 750,000 a year.
It comes as rival holiday parks operator Park Holidays UK last week announced it had bought three more locations.
The two new parks in Scotland and one in Cornwall mean that the company now has 43 sites.