EVERY year, thousands of Scots haul their families south of the Border to Center Parcs resorts. Soon, they may no longer have to as the wildly popular holiday phenomenon has just announced its first Scottish park in the Borders.
But what does that mean for the area, what can we expect and will the reportedly expensive formula work in Center Parcs Caledonia?
Center Parcs is certainly no flash in the family holiday pan. When Dutch entrepreneur Piet Derksen bought land in 1968 so his staff and customers could have somewhere to relax in tents, he couldn’t have imagined that would quickly mushroom into 17 sites across the Netherlands.
Center Parcs came to Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire in 1987, and today Center Parcs UK and Ireland now attracts two million holidaymakers to its half-dozen sites: Elveden Forest, Suffolk; Longleat Forest, Wiltshire; Whinfell Forest, Cumbria; Woburn Forest, Bedfordshire and Longford Forest in County Longford, central Ireland.
Plans were recently mooted for a new site in West Sussex, but these look to have been dropped as attention has moved to Scotland and what the company has hailed as the “ideal location”.
Next year, Center Parcs aims to apply for planning permission for a huge site near Hawick with 700 lodges plus bars, shops and restaurants. There will be myriad indoor and outdoor leisure facilities, including a “subtropical swimming paradise” and Aqua Sana forest spa.
For an idea of scale, this represents the biggest project in the region since the opening of the Borders Railway in 2015. The company has already publicly enthused about the new venture on its website – “We’re excited to announce that, after many months of searching, we have identified a site for a potential Center Parcs village in Scotland.”
David Hope-Jones, chief executive of the South of Scotland Destination Alliance (SSDA), which represents almost 700 south of Scotland tourism businesses, is keen on the impending arrival: “We welcome this news as it will create significant economic and community benefit, bring in new visitors and increase interest in the South of Scotland.
“The scale of the investment and potential is immense. It represents a huge endorsement of our region’s fast-growing reputation as a year-round destination.”
The new venture would be a huge investment with a figure of up to £450 million being bandied about. Hope-Jones sees the potential arrival of Center Parcs as part of the future for tourism in the area.
HE said: “With an estimated 1200 new local jobs, in addition to those created during the construction, this has the potential to transform many of our local communities.
“Our 2024-34 Responsible Tourism Strategy aims to increase the number of jobs in our visitor economy by 6000 over the next decade and this one proposed development has the potential to achieve 20% of this 10-year regional target.”
But what exactly is the appeal for holidaymakers of Center Parcs? David Knox, from Ellon, Aberdeenshire, is a devotee, having stayed at sites in England and Europe with his family and friends on multiple trips.
“It’s just a great place for us all to relax and unwind,” he said. “There is such a wide variety of indoor and outdoor activities – my girls love the pools, the slides and the flumes.”
The formula is a winning one: creating a cocoon where all members of the family can really relax. It stays consistent across the parks, encouraging repeat guests to move around, knowing roughly what to expect.
If you’ve already stayed at one you’ll already have a good idea of what type of experience the Borders would offer, although with local flourishes – Center Parcs has already promised it would weave local food and drink into its Hawick site.
However, one downside to the Center Parcs experience swirls around its undeniable popularity. Knox says: “Center Parcs – especially in England – can get seriously busy, especially with the restaurants teeming with hangry kids.”
With occupancy rates said to be in excess of 95%, Center Parcs has become a victim of its own success, so this UK expansion makes sense.
The other often reported bugbear is cost. Knox flags up how expensive Center Parcs is – while noting “on balance it is worth it”. He also says that the “European Center Parcs I’ve stayed at are noticeably cheaper.”
Meanwhile, fellow Center Parcs regular Daniel Parsons has doubts on the value: “We just booked three nights at Center Parcs in the UK for £700, which is very expensive when you consider next spring we’re going to a French holiday park for a week for less than £200.”
Much remains to be decided about Scotland’s first Center Parcs resort, not least its pricing structure, but if it opens its popularity is in little doubt.
Of the Borders plan, Knox says: “We love Center Parcs so much and it would be great if we could enjoy one in Scotland rather than always going to England or across the Channel. It would mean we get to explore a part of Scotland we don’t really know too.”
