Holiday park operator Haven and a Blackstone portfolio company plan to invest more than £170m in 2023 across multiple parks in the UK.
The expansion will include new activity and entertainment facilities, as well as an increase in new holiday homes.
Haven saw a year-on-year increase of more than 40% in its December 2022 sales and had its “best-ever-performing January for the sales of self-catered Haven holidays and touring spaces”.
The company plans to upgrade a number of parks, including Allhallows in Kent, Quay West in south Wales, and Thorpe Park and Skegness in Lincolnshire.
All of these parks will enjoy new facilities, including adventure villages for families and bars with stages, and partnerships with food and beverage brands.
Haven will also implement smaller upgrades to existing entertainment facilities and activities at other parks, including Weymouth Bay in Dorset, Hopton in Norfolk, Craig Tara in Ayrshire and Devon Cliffs.
Acquired by Blackstone in 2021, Haven has already invested almost £230m in parks across 2021 and 2022, with a commitment to upgrading and modernising all of its holiday sites.
This latest investment will also lead to the creation of more than 7,000 new seasonal and 500 permanent jobs across its 41 parks.
Lionel Assant, European head of private equity at Blackstone, said: “We continue to be strong believers in the UK holiday sector and the growth of the ‘staycation’ market, as demonstrated by the significant capital investment for 2023 into Haven, which in 2022 attracted more than 2.5m visitors.
“These ambitious plans build on this conviction and will see meaningful upgrades to holiday parks across the country, attracting new and returning families, while helping to create more than 5,000 local jobs throughout the UK regions.”
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