If you’ve booked a European holiday in the past fifty-four years, chances are you’ve at least come across Center Parcs. First founded in 1968, this popular holiday park chain provides holidays aimed at those looking for an adventure, but also to escape the stresses of day-to-day life. But with an impressive twenty-eight resorts, two brand names and plans to expand into China, Center Parcs is likely bigger than you expect. Be sure to strap in, as we take a thrilling zipline through the history of Center Parcs!
Origins in Retail
Center Parcs may be an icon of Europe’s leisure industry, but it didn’t start out that way. In 1953, Dutch entrepreneur Piet Derksen sold a tennis court he had been operating for several years, seeing an opportunity in the sporting goods market instead. Derksen’s new venture, Sporthuis Centrum, was an almost instant success- so much, in fact, that the number of branches grew from one to seventeen. And with growth came diversification. Sporthuis Centrum delved into the world of leisure when they added camping goods to their offering, but there’s no point in tent pegs, torches and sleeping bags without a campsite.
In 1968, Derksen purchased a plot of wooded land near Reuver village, in the Limburg region of the Netherlands. Complete with tents which would eventually be replaced with bungalows, the new mini resort was used as a place for staff and customers as the shops to relax. This land plot was named De Lommerbergen, and as the park grew, the modern Center Parcs was born.
Growing Roots
From the 1970s onward, Center Parcs began a fast and almost aggressive expansion. The second resort to open was Het Vennenbos in North Brabant, not too far from Efteling. The formula of luxury lodges and a range of facilities proved successful once again the following year when Het Meerdal opened, then in 1972 with the debut of De Huttenheugte in 1972.
By the end of the decade, Center Parcs had five resorts across the Netherlands, despite only having operated for eleven years. It wasn’t long before the chain would begin to spread its magic into the rest of Europe, starting with Germany. A verdant green area became home to the Park Eifel resort, then in 1980, the expansion returned to the Netherlands, with the opening of the Limburgse Peel resort.
Even today, Europe is continuing to see new Center Parcs resorts make their debut, with resorts set to open in Denmark, Germany and France over the next few years. The chain is starting to reach outside of Europe too- although the date hasn’t been decided yet, a new park is set to open in the Hubei region of China.
What do the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium all have in common? Other than all being in Europe, they’re not exactly the perfect locations for sunny beach holidays. Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands are landlocked- the natural landscapes of these countries consist instead of mountains and forests. With many holidaymakers in the 70s and 80s opting for sun-soaked destinations like India and Gibraltar, Center Parcs were blazing the trail for a market that hadn’t previously been very big. Being home to warm weather and beautiful beaches made France the odd-one-out in terms of countries with Center Parcs resorts, but with the opening of a new resort in 1987, this was all about to change.
From Bows and Arrows, to Bikes and Pools
As much as many of us in the UK like to complain about everything British- from weather to politics- I think we can all agree that it can make a pretty cool holiday destination. Center Parcs thought this too, and would soon open a new holiday park in what is arguably one of the country’s most iconic woods- Sherwood Forest. It was once the setting of the legends of Robin Hood and his crew of Merry Men, and now the adventures would be continuing in a new form.
It could be argued that this was an even larger risk than the parks on mainland Europe, but it more than paid off. When Center Parks Sherwood Forest opened its gates in August 1987, the concept quickly caught on. Like its predecessors, the resort featured shops, cafes, bars and a range of comfortable lodges, and of course, the Subtropical Swimming Paradise. At this last facility- offering everything from pools to slides to lazy rivers- you can easily spend several hours splashing and exploring. But the resort wasn’t finished yet.
In the 35 years since, Center Parcs Sherwood Forest has seen the opening of a Sports Plaza, the Aqua Sana spa, and even thrilling experiences such as a waterslide and a VR experience. At the same time, other parts of the UK and Ireland were getting their own parks- which proved so successful that in 2001, Center Parcs UK and Ireland branched off into its own company, and from this point onwards, there would be a lot of action- both good and bad- to come.
The Elveden Forest Fire
Elveden Forest was the second Center Parcs resort to open in the UK. While Sherwood Forest served the North of the country, this new park was a bit further South, in the Midlands. The facilities offered were relatively similar to that of the first, with both indoor and outdoor activities, and a plaza in the centre. For 23 years, everything operated as normal. However, problems started at 10am on the 5th of April 2002 as a small fire started in the kitchen of one of the plaza’s restaurants, Hucklebury’s. As the flames grew, fire spread across the plaza. 400 staff were able to effectively evacuate around 3500 guests from the resort- only one staff member had to be treated for minor injuries.
The success of the evacuation was made even more impressive by the varied nature of Center Parcs’ resorts. Some guests were swimming when the fire broke out, and were given foil sheets to keep them warm until they could get back to their lodges. Guests said the fire could be seen from all around, with one saying she and her friends were about to begin canoeing on the lake, when “thick black smoke” could be seen coming from the plaza. Practically everything within the plaza was destroyed, including restaurants, a bowling alley, a sports centre and the swimming pool. At one point, the glass roof collapsed in, causing the flames to grow, now fuelled by the air.
As previously mentioned, there were no serious injuries, but the damage left behind was huge. The plaza was completely destroyed, Elveden Forest resort was closed for months, and 100,000 people had their holiday plans either cancelled or postponed. But all was not lost. In the months leading up to the park’s reopening, work began to rebuild the plaza, with a newer, more fireproof design. Eventually Elveden Forest was able to reopen, and the park returned to its usual tranquil glory.
The Start of Sunparks
Ever since the original Center Parcs resort opened in 1968, it has always been targeted towards a higher end segment of the market. But as the popularity of ‘staycations’ continued to grow, the company saw a new opportunity. After being open for around ten to twenty years, the Kempense Meren and Oostduinkerke resorts were given a new life as the first and only parks for a new, lower-priced chain of holiday parks- Sunparks. These would keep many of the things that make Center Parcs fun, such as a range of outdoor activities and an Aquafun Swimming Paradise with plenty of slides.
With the debut of Sunparks, however, came some more unique aspects. Guests have the opportunity to get food delivered to their lodge in a kind of takeaway/room service system, and the lodges themselves are a little different too- looking more like cottages and holiday homes than lodges where you’d stay for a few days. Children can run wild in the Kids World indoor play area, or come face to face with animals at the the Children’s Farm. Center Parcs’ main resorts are built for relaxation and have quiet, often wooden settings to match, however Sunparks is more about action, located not far from the Plopsaland and Plopsa Indoor Hasselt theme parks!
Sunparks launched in 2007, and while the resorts do get plenty of customers, the concept never truly took off the way Center Parcs did. TripAdvisor can’t seem to decide what it thinks about these parks- there are some massively positive reviews, there are also some that maybe didn’t have the best time- so I guess it all just depends on personal taste. Even so, Center Parcs never opened any more of these more budget-friendly resorts, and Kempense Meren and Oostduinkerke remain the only ones in operation to this day.
The Disney Connection
Disney and Center Parcs are both pretty big staples of the travel industry, but at first they may not seem like the obvious choices for an interrelationship. However, this wasn’t going to hold the two companies back. In 2017 (five years ago now- it still feels like yesterday!), Disneyland Paris collaborated with Center Parcs to open up their seventh accommodation option for guests staying on-site, and while most of their previous ones were hotels, this one was a little bit different.
Named Les Villages Nature Paris, the holiday park/hotel brings together Disney magic and the tranquillity of a Center Parcs forest. The resort includes both apartments and lodges, and while its not decorated with Mickey shapes like most other Disney park accommodation, it still includes the reasons we may stay in a Disney hotel- free access to the parks, and Extra Magic Hours! If you’re not familiar with this perk, it allows you to get into the theme parks an hour or so earlier, which can be helpful if there’s one or two rides that you really want to get on but the queues are just too long.
Center Parcs have been on a rapid growth spurt since the opening of the De Lommerbergen resort back in 1968, and fifty-four years later, it looks set to continue. The company currently have five parks in development, four of them in Europe- France, Denmark and Germany to be specific, and one of them offering the chance to branch out into a whole new market with a resort in China.
Having been part of the European tourism market for so long, it will be interesting to see if the concept takes off in Asia as quickly as it did over here, however as of yet the date for opening is still to be confirmed. Center Parcs’ twenty-six resorts, and two Sunparks resorts, have stood the test of time, and the test of the pandemic- in fact, they may have even benefitted from the rise in ‘staycations’ over the past few years, so it doesn’t look like this unique holiday chain is going anywhere any time soon!
Have you ever visited a Center Parcs or Sunparks resort? What were your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below!
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