Cofton Holidays invests £200k in 48 new super pitches for the staycation boom
Multi award-winning holiday park Cofton Holidays has invested £200,000 in 48 new super pitches to cope with record demand for staycations from caravaners and owners of recreational vehicles (RVs).
Named as the UK’s Best Caravan/Campsite at the prestigious iTravel Staycation Awards 2020/21, the family-run holiday park, situated close to Dawlish Warren’s Blue Flag Beach, has increased the number of super pitches for RVs and caravans from 26 to 74 pitches, almost tripling its offering.
The holiday park experienced a dramatic surge in bookings from guests with caravans and RVs over the peak summer season. Bookings were up 20% on 2019, hitting a record high for occupancy levels. The lift in demand followed news that the number of people buying caravans in the UK has increased by around a fifth, according to caravan trader Robinsons Caravans*.
Solidifying its reputation as an all-weather all-year-round holiday destination, Cofton’s new super pitches feature brick paver and gravel bases which protect each pitch from the rain. To ensure that camping enthusiasts experience a stress-free staycation too, Cofton is also offering electricity access to those with tents during the peak summer season.
Helen Scott, Director at Cofton Holidays, is looking forward to welcoming even more campers and caravaners this autumn: “We’ve known for a long time that demand for high quality hard-standing pitches was on the rise, outstripping our ability to keep up with demand. That’s why we took the lockdown as an opportunity to make changes that would not otherwise have been possible, without causing significant disruption to visiting guests. The result is 48 new super pitches, which are now available to book all-year round.
“We are already receiving fantastic feedback from guests who have stayed. For them, the brick paver and gravel combination has made it much easier to set up an awning and outdoor furniture, creating a weatherproof option whatever the weather!”
Helen continued: “In addition to the new pitches we’ve also enhanced our beautiful landscape, rewilding large swathes of the park, introducing new shrubbery, creating wildlife corridors and enhancing biodiversity across the site for insects, birds, bats, butterflies, bees and small mammals.”
The new hard-standing super pitches include water and waste connections and 16-amp electric hook-ups. Located towards the top of the park as well as close to the popular fishing lakes, users have access to covered washing up areas, a grass area behind the hard-standing pitches, an on-site laundrette, newly refurbished heated toilet and shower blocks, TV aerial points and Wi-Fi at an extra charge. Nearby, the camp shop stocks everything campers might need, ranging from freshly baked croissants to tent pegs.
Other award-winning facilities across the park include a heated indoor pool with a splash pad area and hydrotherapy loungers, a gym, restaurant, pub, steam room, sauna, fitness studio, soft play area, playground, sports wall, outdoor pools and much more. Guests also have access to five coarse fishing lakes, miles of cycle paths and nature trails that take visitors through woodland to the golden sands of Dawlish Warren beach and nature reserve.
Cofton Holidays also provides luxury lodges with hot tubs, holiday apartments in a Georgian Manor House overlooking the Exe Estuary and Dawlish Warren, country cottages, on-site cottages and a range of static holiday homes.
Free kids’ clubs take place throughout the school holidays, and from Easter through to the October half term. Other free activities on site include the £50,000 Woodland Adventure Area which features a 25m zip line, a climbing cage, rope ladders, balance beam, balance lines and scramble nets.
For more information on Cofton Holidays, visit www.coftonholidays.co.uk or call 01626 890111.
