UK HOLIDAY PARKS PROUDLY SPONSORED BY VALCATO ENTERTAINMENT
The UK Holiday Park scene has seen a transformation in recent years with the big chains either trimming and slimming down and focussing on specific markets, while others have specialised in developing parks of certain dimensions and making major investment plans. As a result, one or two of the main players have also cherry-picked coastal parks with a lot of land attached, for obvious reasons.
Those who supply and provide the entertainment must be prepared, in terms of technical support, as well as staying on the ball in terms of the staffing and supply of coat entertainers and of course organising and administering the visiting cabaret programme.
The increasingly family-orientated sector certainly needs a watchful eye and as the months and years go on, we will be focussing on many of holiday centres models being adopted most recently.
Most companies which offer and adopt a consultancy service employ their own technical support staff. This line provides a rich vein of employment for P.A hire and sales people and many others creatives and technical staff.
This month’s holiday centre page is hopefully illustrating the vibrancy and the employment opportunities generated by the sector these days. In terms of the number of parks operated by some of the main players, Parkdean Holidays 66 strong roster of UK holiday parks are enjoying great success in terms of presenting a wide range of products and a strong blend of specialised visiting cabaret and much-praised in-house productions.
The Parkdean people have gained a reputation for acquiring a number of parks with great resorts nearby and strong and attractive park facilities scattered nearby. For example, the giant Trecco Bay park in South Wales stands in an area close to Porthcawl but not too close. Perhaps a better example of such strategically planned Parkdean parks would be their lovely Cayton Bay site set in a stunningly beautiful area of coastline just to the south of Scarborough on the Yorkshire coast.
Many such sites sprang up independently during the post war boom years, where so many holiday and caravan-based businesses emerged apparently in competition with major players led of course by Butlins.
In the next issue of UK Cabaret we will be focussing on Butlins as members of our review team head to an event staged over three days at their giant Bognor Regis site. We will also be focussing on discussions at a recent entertainment agent’s association meeting, which outlined some of the plans for 2024 being made by some of the huge players.