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Month: August 2017

Continuum Attractions buys GreenWood Forest Park

Continuum Attractions, the York-based attractions group, has bought GreenWood Forest Park, a family activity centre based in North Wales.

The acquisition, which was completed in July, sees the attractions group move into the outdoor family attractions sector for the first time.

The company says it bought GreenWood Forest Park, which is located at Y Felinheli, midway between Bangor and Caernarvon, “because it is a successful and award-winning family adventure park business and a wonderful opportunity for Continuum to expand into the family, outdoor attraction market”.

Commenting on the acquisition, Juliana Delaney, chief executive of Continuum Attractions says: “We are thrilled to have added GreenWood Forest Park to the Continuum Attractions family. North Wales is a place very dear to my heart. I have relatives living nearby and have been visiting the area since I was two years-old. It is a region that has a fantastic future for tourism. The park is already such a great day out for guests with a passionate team dedicated to providing the very best experience for everyone.”

Continuum attractions
Continuum Attractions has bought GreenWood Forest Park in North Wales. Enjoying the park’s facilities are Kevin Smith, group attractions director; Andrew Pawson, group finance director; and Juliana Delaney, chief executive.

The former owners of the park, Steve and Andrea Bristow, who set up the business 25 years ago, made the decision to retire to enjoy more time to travel and spend with family. It is understood that they sold to Continuum Attractions because they wanted the project to be put into safe hands.

Kevin Smith, Continuum Attractions’ group attractions director, says: “We are delighted to have added GreenWood Forest Park to our portfolio of outstanding UK visitor attractions. Continuum Attractions has been keen to expand into outdoor, family experiences and GreenWood will offer a fantastic opportunity for us to do so.

“The park’s focus on sustainability is also really important across our business. North Wales is a fantastic place to visit and has important cultural traditions such as the use of the Welsh language. We are absolutely committed to continuing this tradition and the bi-lingual heritage of GreenWood Forest Park.”

GreenWood Forest Park is a TripAdvisor UK Top 10 Attraction and a North Wales Tourist Board Green and Innovation Award-winner.

York-based Continuum Attractions owns, operates and manages eight other attractions across the UK: The Real Mary King’s Close, Edinburgh; The Canterbury Tales, Canterbury; Oxford Castle Unlocked, Oxford; York’s Chocolate Story, York; Emirates Spinnaker Tower, Portsmouth; The Emmerdale Studio Tour, Leeds; The Emmerdale Village Tour, near Leeds; and The Royal Mint Experience, Cardiff (management contract).

Continuum Attractions
The Continuum Attractions team of Kevin Smith, Andrew Pawson and Juliana Delaney.

Popularity of UK’s gardens and zoos continues to rise

The popularity of the UK’s gardens and zoos continues to rise. Figures released by VisitEngland show that the two staples of traditional coach touring saw the most significant growth in visitors to attractions last year.

VisitEngland’s Annual Attractions Survey, which gathered information from more than 1,500 English attractions, found that outdoor attractions performed particularly well in 2016, with gardens and zoos showing growth of 8%. Historic houses and castles reported a 7% increase in visitor numbers, while country parks saw a 4% increase.

Coastal and rural attractions experienced strong growth of 4% and 5% respectively, reflecting the results of VisitEngland’s Great Britain Tourism Survey.

Commenting on the figures, Tourism Minister John Glen says: “We have an amazing range of world-class attractions in England that draw in millions of visitors every year. Whether it is our unique historic buildings, internationally important museums or stunning gardens, there is a huge amount to see and do. Ensuring that all parts of the country benefit from our tourism industry is a key government priority so it is fantastic to see such growth across the regions.”

Sally Balcombe, chief executive of VisitEngland, says: “There are so many outstanding attractions offering year-round experiences throughout the country and it is great see that Brits enjoyed 2016’s ‘Year of the English Garden’. Attractions are a much loved and valuable part of the tourism landscape, adding colour and variety to the visitor experience and encouraging people to get out and explore, driving the value of tourism across the regions.”

The British Museum was the most visited free attraction in England in 2016, for the ninth consecutive year, with nearly 6.5 million visitors. It was closely followed by the National Gallery which had more than 6.2 million visitors.

The Tower of London topped the list of paid-for attractions for the eighth year running, with 2.7 million visitors. Chester Zoo experienced its highest ever ranking, in second place, with nearly 1.9 million visitors.

Visits to England’s attractions rose by 2% in 2016, with attractions reporting revenues up by 7%.

VisitEngland’s latest figures show that, for the first four months of 2017, domestic holidaymakers took a record 11.4 million holiday trips in England.

Popularity of UK's gardens and zoos
Gardens and zoos are attracting record numbers of visitors. This is one of the collection of royal cars at Sandringham House and Gardens in Norfolk.
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