Parks Group urges new tourism minister to 'take a break'

Tourism minister John Penrose has been advised to start his new job by taking a few days off - on one of the holiday parks where millions of Britons will be staying this summer. The invitation has come from Tony Clish, director of Park Holidays UK, who says he will be delighted to provide Mr Penrose with use of one of his group's top holiday caravans.

"It's fantastic news that the new government has brought back this ministerial post, and appears to be acknowledging the huge importance of Britain's £114 billion visitor economy," said Tony.

"Tourism's most dynamic accommodation sector is its holiday parks industry - and it would be great for Mr Penrose to experience our product first-hand and see why it's so popular," he added.

Park Holidays UK, commented Tony, would be welcoming more families than ever before this year at its 25 seaside holiday parks in Devon and along the south and east coast.

Over the past year, he said, the company had invested millions its centres in order to meet growing demand - and so far, bookings this year are up 15 percent on last summer.

"Holiday parks generate massive spending in rural areas of Britain, and help to support many different types of businesses and the people they employ.

"In Mr Penrose's own constituency of Weston-Super-Mare, it's estimated by VisitBritain that almost four thousand jobs - that's ten percent of the workforce - are tourism related.

"It's a similar picture in many other areas, and that's why we need an urgent agenda to ensure that our holiday parks industry is both promoted and protected," commented Tony.

Points he would like to see given priority include a more realistic and sympathetic response by planners to the development of new and existing park businesses.

Government, he says, should be advising local authorities to end their restrictive planning policies so that the private sector can invest and benefit regional economies and employment.

It should also be examining ways of improving transport links to holiday areas, especially the railways, and consider using National Lottery funds to support and develop visitor attractions.

He also suggests an increase in funding for tourist boards to promote their regions to overseas visitors, taking the emphasis off tourist honeypots such as London and Stratford-upon-Avon.

"We would like nothing more than for the new tourism minister to spend a few nights in one of our caravan holiday homes, and to discover why parks are so massively popular," said Tony.

"I'm certain he would return to Westminster both relaxed and ready for the new challenges, and with a fresh insight into what makes this industry so successful for British tourism," he added.

Details about the group's parks can be found at: ParkHolidaysUK.com