Member Article

Chichester park praises staff team in Tourism Week

Sixty staff at Chichester Lakeside Holiday Park have been praised by their bosses during English Tourism Week for helping to pump a record sum into the local economy.

Director Tony Clish says that visitors spent over £4.5 million in and around the Chichester area last year, thanks in a big part to the park team’s dedication and hard work.

The vast majority of the cash, he says, entered the tills of local businesses such as shops, cafes, markets, pubs and visitor attractions – many of which rely on tourism income for their survival.

Tony’s comments came during the annual celebration of England’s tourism industry which runs for a week from 14 March, and which has HRH Prince Charles as its patron.

The £4.5 million boost to the local economy, he said, was around five percent up on the previous year – and was calculated using independent economic research by the park industry’s trade body.

But that’s not the only target which Tony and the park’s staff will be hoping to beat in 2015, for Chichester Lakeside has also announced its new nominated charity for the year.

It’s to be St Wilfred’s Hospice in Chichester, and the park aims to top the £3500.00 donation it made to last year’s charity, the Arundel children’s hospice Chestnut Tree House.

Much of the fundraising is organised by staff, and supported by many local businesses who pledged prizes for activities such as raffles, draws, dog shows, fishing contests and carol sing-offs.

Park guests, said Tony, are always enthusiastic supporters of the park’s charity work, and include not just families from across the UK but also many visitors each year from mainland Europe.

Holidaymakers can bring their own tent, touring caravan or motorhome to stay at Chichester Lakeside, or rent a luxury caravan holiday home.

The majority of guests, however, own one of the 370-plus holiday caravans and timber lodges on the park, many of which are sited around its 200 acres of picturesque fishing lakes.

New leisure homes start from around £50,000 and can be used virtually year round for holidays, with guaranteed pitch terms of 20 years for a holiday caravan, and 30 years for a lodge.

Tony Clish said Chichester Lakeside is without doubt one of most popular among the 24 holiday parks which are operated by his group, Park Holidays UK:

“It’s such a fantastic location, but of course what people often remember most about a holiday is the quality of the surroundings, and how welcome they were made to feel.

“Credit for this has to go to our amazing staff team at Chichester Lakeside, and many of the on-line reviews we receive pay tribute to their friendliness and helpfulness.

“The vast majority of our staff team live in the Chichester area, and their local knowledge is also invaluable to helping visitors to get the most out of their stay.

“Last year we invested hundreds of thousands of pounds on improving still further the guest facilities at the park, including a stunning new clubhouse and entertainments centre.

“Against this background, we’re all very excited at the prospect of generating even more local tourism spending this year – and creating a new charity donations record,” said Tony.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Jon Boston .