Staycations boost for holiday park

Sales of properties have surged at a Fife holiday park as people choose to take staycations. The owners of Pettycur Bay Holiday Park in Kinghorn said there had also been a dramatic increase in the park’s occupancy.

The increase comes at the end of a “huge” year for the business, which saw its sales almost double yearon-year to more than £8 million.

Tommy Wallace, director of Pettycur Bay, said: “It’s been a huge staycation year for us with many of our regular customers returning to stay with us.

“We’ve also had new customers who were perhaps choosing not to venture abroad and decided to holiday at home.

“Our hire fleet has seen a quite dramatic increase, as have sales of our holiday homes.

“People decided to take the plunge and buy their own holiday home which was very good news for us.”

Mr Wallace said Horizons, the on-site restaurant, proved popular after Covid restrictions began to ease.

“We found that we benefited from a great deal of repeat custom,” he added.

“Older, more vulnerable customers remarked to us that they felt safe and comfortable as the country came out of the pandemic.

“It’s a very big space, and we had all the safety measures in place.”

Newly filed accounts for Pettycur Bay Holiday Park show the firm’s turnover at £8m for the year to February 2022 – almost double the total of £4.3m the previous year.

The firm’s pre-tax profit also soared to £3.5m for the reporting period, up from £1.3m.

But Mr Wallace said the business is facing challenges, including the cost-of-living crisis.

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People decided to take the plunge and buy their own holiday home

“We do expect a downturn due to the current cost-of-living crisis to be reflected in next year accounts,” he added.

“It will have an effect, although we are trying to make sure that our prices reflect real value for money.

“We are optimistic that we can hold our market share as we have a very loyal following.”

Mr Wallace said the holiday park has seen costs rise for food and drink, while staff recruitment is another challenge.

The Wallace family is also behind upgrades at The Old Manor Hotel at Lundin Links in Leven.

The Fife holiday park also featured on BBC television programme Life At The Bay earlier this year.

A second season of the programme is expected to be announced soon.

BOON: Pettycur Bay Holiday Park in Kinghorn has seen a rise in sales since Covid. Picture by Steve Brown.