The Center Parcs resort at Elveden Forest which was destroyed by fire last year reopens today after a £55m rebuild.
When the fire, which is believed to have started in the kitchens, swept through the 400-acre holiday village on the Norfolk-Suffolk border last April, 3,500 holiday-makers and 400 staff had to be evacuated.
But bookings for the rest of the season are good and Martin Dalby, managing director of Center Parcs UK, was optimistic. "The challenge of the last 15 months has been significant for the company, but we are now at the end of the road and it is a relief."
Accommodation at the resort comprises 634 villas and the 88-bedroom Lakeview hotel. There are 12 restaurants and bars and a range of leisure facilities including a swimming pool, water sports lake, health and beauty spa, indoor and outdoor tennis and nine-hole golf course.
Elveden Forest generates an annual turnover of about £50m a year. Bookings for the remainder of 2003 are running at about 75%, with prices starting from £151 for a four-night midweek break in the Lakeview hotel or £218 for a four-night midweek break in a two-bedroom villa.
Three-night weekend breaks cost from £177 for a hotel room to £267 for a villa.
Center Parcs
- Is owned by Mid-Ocean Partners and has four resorts in the UK - Sherwood Forest, Elveden Forest, Longleat Forest and Oasis Whinfell Forest - with a total of 3,142 villas and apartments.
- 1.2 million people visited during the 2001-02 season, giving the group a turnover of £166m.
- Average stay for guests is 3.92 days.
- 4,000 people are employed in the UK, both full- and part-time.
Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 10 - 16 July 2003