Hendra Holiday Park in Newquay is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year! The park has been owned by the same family since it opened, and the third generation are in charge today. As a family-owned park, providing family holidays has been key in everything they do.
Over the last 10 years Hendra has welcomed an average of 80,000 guests a year and operate a guest loyalty scheme with over 3,500 families already qualifying. Every year Hendra employs over 240 wonderful staff. The staff are key, and many feel like family as they’ve worked at Hendra for years with an increasing number having worked there for over 10 years.
To mark the occasion, Hendra has partnered with a select number of local Cornish businesses to produce 50th anniversary products, such as a gin with Tarquin’s, chocolate with Josh’s Chocolate and an anniversary pale ale with St Austell Brewery. These limited-edition products will be available on site throughout the season.
They’ve also built a commemorative water fountain on the park’s stunning roundabout, which is a throwback to the original one built almost 50 years ago!
Since opening 50 years ago, Hendra has made many developments and investments to become the family friendly, award-winning holiday destination that it is today. In 1972, Hendra started as a touring site with an outdoor pool and an entertainment venue on approximately 35 acres of land. It quickly grew into the largest touring park in Europe with over 1,000 pitches.
Over the years Hendra added many facilities for the guests which included a sauna, sports shop, crazy golf, nursery, cocktail bar, hairdressers, trampolines, teenage disco, outdoor play park, skate park and an indoor soft play centre. In 1988, Hendra added the first static caravans and became a family and couples site – today Hendra has over 300 luxury holiday homes and lodges and over 500 touring pitches.
In 2000 Hendra opened the fabulous Oasis Fun Pools, which are still one of the largest water complexes in the South West. The Oasis Fun Pools are enjoyed by visiting guests and locals alike. Hendra is reintroducing the Oasis Local Scheme this year with discounts and special offers just for the locals.
Over the last 10 years Hendra has invested over £15 million. In 2008 Hendra received its first gold 5* rating which it maintains to this day, and in 2017 won the South West Holiday Park of the year!
The holiday park has raised over £100,000 for charity over the years, these include Cornwall MIND, Cornwall Air Ambulance, Alzheimer’s Society, Cornwall Hospice Care, NSPCC, Macmillan Care and Help for Heroes to name a few. This year Hendra’s chosen charity is Cancer Research.
The off-site spend by Hendra’s guest amounts to £10 million each year going into the local economy. The environment and local community are also of huge importance to Hendra Holiday Park, and they have invested heavily in going green. The Oasis Fun Pools heating system is run by a biomass boiler and they have their own wind farm and a solar farm that powers Hendra each and every day.
Hendra has lots of events planned throughout the season to celebrate their 50th! Appearances from Peppa Pig, firework displays, performances from life-sized dinosaurs, and 50th themed game shows. Hendra’s Hippo mascots, Henry and Henrietta, will be hosting the celebrations.
Hendra and the team, you are a credit to the Best of British Holiday Parks. We send you our best wishes on your 50th anniversary and hope you enjoy good weather and lots of fun this year.
