Serving the Teesside Business Community | 65
Sanderson Weatherall has been working in the
caravan and holiday park industry for 40 years,
and has successfully dealt with more than 1,500
park sales in England, Scotland and Wales.
How caravan parks
are revolutionising the
staycation
By Adam
Burkinshaw
Holiday and caravan
park specialist at
Sanderson Weatherall
Throughout 2017 and into 2018 we
continue to see a very strong demand
for holiday parks across the UK.
I
n recent years, the UK holiday and caravan
park market has seen considerable growth,
with established holiday parks in high
demand.
With idyllic countryside or beachside
locations, holiday and caravan park holidays
have long been a staple destination for many
UK tourists.
But with recent political uncertainty, and a
subsequent drop in the value of the pound,
new holidaymakers are being attracted to
holiday closer to home, leading to further
growth in the popularity of ‘staycations’
across the UK.
The recent recession, coupled with the
increasingly trendy staycation concept, has
helped to make holidaying in the UK a much
more popular choice amongst UK tourists.
Much has been written about the Brexit
vote and its positive impact on the UK
holiday and caravan park market but there
has also been a transformation in the parks
themselves.
As ever, holiday park businesses have
been forward-thinking to embrace the new
demand, creating and developing many
new forms of accommodation to appeal to
different customers.
Be it traditional caravans, high quality
lodges with hot tubs, pods, yurts, teepees or
treehouses, there is accommodation to suit
everyone and every taste.
While the key ingredients of a successful
holiday business remain unchanged –
location, accommodation, price and service
– the increased and wider demand enables
a far greater diversity in what we are seeing
parks offer to their customers.
Other than simply providing
accommodation, successful parks offer
‘experiences’ to their customers, whether
this means a luxury lodge with spa facilities,
or a ‘back to nature’ experience with outdoor
showers and a fire pit under the stars.
There has been a real shift in focus as
park operators invest further capital in the
holiday and caravan park market, with the
majority actively seeking new opportunities
or investing to expand their parks with
additional hire fleet accommodation or
by developing new concepts of holiday
accommodation. At the end of 2016, the
UK’s largest caravan park operator, Parkdean
Resorts, was sold to Canadian private equity
firm, Onex Corporation, for over £1.35bn, an
insight in to the attraction and scale of the
UK holiday park market.
Throughout 2017 and into 2018 we
continue to see a very strong demand for
holiday parks across the UK.
Staycations look set to continue in their
popularity, a real boost to the UK holiday park
industry and testament to the great service
and range of holidays on offer from holiday
park operators.
Sanderson Weatherall has been working in
the caravan and holiday park industry for 40
years and has successfully dealt with more
than 1,500 park sales in England, Scotland
and Wales.
The firm delivers specialist holiday and
caravan park services nationwide from a
network of UK offices, including sales and
valuations, planning, business rates advice
and architecture and design.
For more details go to sw.co.uk/
teesside or give the Teesside team a call
on 01642 426900.