Center Parcs announces opening date for UK villages including Elveden Forest

Center Parcs at Elveden Forest is 'ready to open' to visitors again after having been closed for almost four months.

All five of the UK villages closed their doors on Friday, March 20 in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

But from Monday, July 13, visitors will once again be able to flock to the parks, where new social distancing and safety measures will be in place to protect staff and customers.

These include a reduction in the number of guests on each break, changes to some activities, an enhanced cleaning schedule, changes to arrival and departure times, introducing cashless payments and an online-only booking system and a delivery service. All villages will also open without the Subtropical Swimming Paradise and Aqua Sana Spa.

Martin Dalby, chief executive, said: “Although it was disappointing to have to close our villages, it was the right thing to do to keep our guests and staff safe.

"The coronavirus pandemic has had a significant effect on the whole country and we always said we would only reopen once we were 100% satisfied it was safe to do so.

"We’ve had our teams working around the clock to review everything we do, right down to the smallest detail, and we‘re now ready to open our doors again."

Center Parcs has introduced a book with confidence guarantee which allows customers to cancel stays up to six days prior to arrival and still receive a full refund. They will also be able to reschedule stays.

“The ongoing maintenance of our villages and how wonderful they are looking is a real testament to the commitment and adaptability of the teams," said Mr Dalby.

"Closure has been a huge undertaking and something of this scale has never been done in the history of our business. We’ve all been impressed by the way people have quickly got used to new ways of working and I know the whole Center Parcs family are so excited to welcome our guests back to the forest.”