More than £5.2m to be invested in three Dorset holiday parks

Parkdean Resorts is pumping the cash into its site across the county to go towards new accommodation, installing park-wide wi-fi capability and a brand new development at Warmwell Holiday Park near Crossways.

Both Sandford, near Wareham, and West Bay will also benefit from the funding, which is part of £140m being spent nationwide on the chain of holiday parks.

The three Dorset sites welcomed almost 170,000 visitors last year and with advance bookings already at record levels, Parkdean is bracing itself for even more guests in 2022.

• Read more: Warmwell Holiday Park awarded five stars in inspection

Steve Richards, chief executive of Parkdean Resorts, said: “This investment is great news for Dorset. By investing in our parks, we’re not only improving the guest experience, we’re also ensuring that holidaymakers keep coming back year after year, spending money in local shops, attractions, pubs and restaurants, and supporting the communities that rely so heavily on tourism.

“2021 was a huge year for staycations, and our teams will continue to go above and beyond to deliver phenomenal service to our guests, making sure that 2022 is even better.”

Last year alone the Warmwell site welcomed around 40,000 visitors and this year the site will be boosted by a new development, which will include four new caravans alongside 66 lodges being refurbished.

The new development at the site near Crossways is set to come in at a cost of more than £2.7m and is part of the holiday park operator’s biggest ever investment programme.

Nationwide, the £140m financial injection includes more than 850 new caravans and lodges, new developments at 15 parks in addition to Warmwell, and hundreds of upgraded chalets and lodges with a new look.

Across the country £6m has also been spent on connectivity projects, meaning that employee wi-fi has now been installed at 65 parks, with direct-to-van wi-fi to be available in 50 parks by the end of the year.

• Read more: West Bay Holiday Park gets planning permission for changes

In 2022 Parkdean reported receiving a record year of customer feedback scores off the back of the staycation boom during the Covid-19 pandemic which saw many Brits choose to ditch their holiday abroad for a break in the UK in 2020 and 2021 - in part due to travel restrictions.