A POPULAR holiday park has seen a major investment to install and upgrade accommodation.

The UK’s largest holiday park operator, Parkdean Resorts, has given a significant boost for tourism in County Durham with the announcement of a substantial investment for Crimdon Dene Holiday Park ahead of the 2021 season.

The spend of more than £265,000 to install and upgrade accommodation is part of a £70 million investment in its business nationwide, and the award-winning company is now hiring for seasonal and full-time roles in the region.

Crimdon Dene Holiday Park, near Hartlepool, welcomed almost 16,000 visitors in 2020, and as part of the investment, the park will benefit from two stylish new caravans, while thirteen upgraded caravans are being introduced to replace existing fleet.

Parkdean Resorts employs almost 100 staff in season at Crimdon Dene, and the park is currently hiring for a number of seasonal roles across sales, food and beverage, and housekeeping.

The company expects to hire 6,500 seasonal staff for summer 2021, and anybody interested in applying for a job should visit Parkdean’s jobs website to view all vacancies.

Parkdean Resorts is the UK’s largest operator of caravan, lodge, cabin, glamping and camping holiday resorts, and was named Best UK Family Holiday Company, and Best UK Holiday Parks and Lodges Company at the British Travel Awards 2020, the UK’s biggest opinion poll for travel and tourism in the country.

During a challenging 2020 – particularly for areas like County Durham whose local economy is heavily reliant on tourism – Parkdean topped all furlough payments up to 100 per cent during lockdowns, donated tens of thousands of pounds worth of provisions to food banks, and provided free accommodation for more than 100 NHS key workers at four holiday parks.

In response to increased demand for staycations last summer, once lockdown lifted, the company hired record numbers of seasonal staff, and will recruit more seasonal workers this year as it prepares to bounce back again for the holiday season.

Steve Richards, chief executive of Parkdean Resorts, said: “Despite the most challenging of years, we’re continuing to invest in our parks, creating an even better experience for holidaymakers and holiday home owners in 2021. With industry-leading Covid-safe standards, we’re looking forward to welcoming people back safely, to enjoy everything our parks, and the surrounding areas, have to offer. We know how reliant the local economy is on tourism, and we’re confident that we can help the region recover by welcoming holidaymakers to enjoy a well-deserved staycation in County Durham.”

Nationwide, the £70m investment for 2021 includes £22.5m spent on introducing more than 700 new caravans and lodges, £13m on maintenance, more than £12m on technology projects, and £12m on three ‘Parks of the Future’, at Sandford in Dorset, Trecco Bay in South Wales, and Cayton Bay, Yorkshire which have received new accommodation.