European summer of love for Britain

Record numbers of continental families are booking onto British holiday parks this year, according to one of the country's largest park-owning groups, Park Holidays UK.

French and Dutch visitors especially are taking advantage of the Euro's greater buying power in Britain - and the Met Office's summer forecast of Mediterranean temperatures in the south.

Park Holidays UK director Tony Clish says that "a sizeable number" of the million-plus bed nights it provides this year will be taken up by families from mainland Europe.

Now staff on its 25 holiday parks are being asked to come forward if they have foreign language skills, and the company plans to recruit bilingual workers to its call-centre team in Hastings.

"At the start of the year, we began tracking an above-average volume of visitors to our website from France, Holland, Germany and Spain," said Tony.

"Now that interest is being translated into firm bookings with Devon as the favourite destination, followed by parks near the channel ports in Sussex and Kent, and the North Sea ports in Essex.

"Some of our parks are already to capacity on certain summer weeks, and continental visitors have certainly contributed to our twenty-four percent rise in bookings this year, " added Tony.

Park staff, he said, were excited by the prospect of welcoming more near-European guests, and hoped they would add an extra dash of continental atmosphere to match the anticipated sunshine.

Most families, said Tony, are coming with children which was another bonus:

"Kids are naturally good mixers, and I'm sure many of our younger guests will help their mums and dads strike up friendships with other families," he commented.

Although few overseas visitors will need much help with English, he predicted, menu translations will be available in restaurants and bars.

Staff with language skills will also be asked to help provide the tourist information and holiday planning service offered at each park by the company.

"This is great news not just for us, but for Britain's tourism economy as a whole," said Tony.

"Our beaches are more attractive and fun than most of what the Mediterranean has to offer, and frankly there's a lot more to see and do inland compared with many European resorts.

"We might not be able to match the size of their insects or the ferocity of their jellyfish - but for out-and-out holiday pleasure, I think we'll be proving that Britain does it best!" he added.

More information from ParkHolidaysUK.com.