 | |
| Company type | Public limited company(Naamloze vennootschap) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Leisure |
| Founded | 1968 |
| Founder | Piet Derksen |
| Headquarters | Rivium Boulevard 213,, |
Number of locations | Center Parcs - 28 Sunparks - 2 |
| Brands | Center Parcs, Sunparks |
| Parent | Pierre & Vacances |
| Website | centerparcs |
Center Parcs Europe N.V. (formerlyCenter Parcs) is a European network ofholiday villages that was founded in theNetherlands in 1968, and is currently operated byPierre & Vacances.
Dutch entrepreneurPiet Derksen started a sporting goods shop in 1953 atLijnbaan,Rotterdam. Its name was 'Sporthuis Centrum', 'Sport House Centre'. It succeeded and Derksen expanded into 17 outlets across the Netherlands, and then addedcamping articles to the range.
In 1968, Derksen purchased woodland nearReuver so staff and customers could relax in small tents. The park,De Lommerbergen [nl], was successful, and the tents were soon replaced withbungalows. In 1987, Center Parcs opened its first UK resort atSherwood Forest inNottinghamshire. This brought the company into the sights of expanding brewerScottish and Newcastle, which later bought the group.
In 2001, the UK locations separated from the continental Europe locations and formed a separate company,Center Parcs UK.[1]
In 2003,Scottish & Newcastle sold thecontinental European sites to a joint venture ofPierre & Vacances (P&V) and Deutsche Bank Capital Partners (DBCP), a German investment group. This was given the name Center Parcs Europe (CPE). P&V owned Europe's largest (in terms of bed-count) bungalow-vacation-supplier,Gran Dorado Resorts, a Dutch former joint venture ofVendex,[2] Algemeen Burgerlijk Pensioenfonds, GAK and Philips Rentefonds. P&V brought Gran Dorado in the joint venture.
As CPE was based in Rotterdam, Netherlands, the Dutch and European Commercial Competition Authority[3] did not approve of combining Gran Dorado and Center Parcs, as it would effectively control the European market. After agreeing to a reduction in beds owned, CPE sold all but six Gran Dorado Resorts to DutchLandal GreenParks.[4] The remaining six parks were added to CenterParcs: Loohorst (NL), Port Zelande (NL), Zandvoort (NL), Weerterbergen (NL), Hochsauerland (D) and Heilbachsee (D).
After the sale, five of the six remaining Gran Dorado Resorts parks were rebranded Sea Spirit from Center Parcs or Free Life from Center Parcs. The Weerterbergen-Resort was sold to Roompot because of the cost of bringing it to standard.[5] All original Center Parcs resorts in the Netherlands, France, Belgium and Germany were sub-branded CP Original. Having completed the integration and rebranding exercise, Pierre & Vacances bought DBCP out of the partnership.
In January 2009, Sunparks launched alongside Center Parcs in Europe, as a low-cost brand. Many of the former Gran Dorado resorts were rebranded in this exercise, but the sub brand was dropped in 2011 and the parks were rebranded to Center Parcs. In 2025, Center Parcs opened their first resort in Denmark.[6]
There are now 28 resorts in the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Germany and Denmark. Most villages are different, but some villages such as Bispinger Heide in Germany and Domaine Les Bois Francs in France (and many more) share the same Village Plaza design. They have the same styled Aqua Mundo and Sports Plaza. Accommodation is invillas or bungalows, clustered in a park and surrounded by trees and bushes. An exception is Park Zandvoort, set among sand dunes. Certain resorts also provide hotel rooms. The first village had features that have stayed popular like the swimming pool, shops and restaurants. The first dome arrived in 1980,[citation needed] named Subtropical Swimming Paradise in UK resorts and Aqua Mundo in European resorts. A range of sporting activities is available, withrestaurants,spas,saunas, andmassage.
In 2009, Center Parcs Europe divided its parks into two brands: "Center Parcs", which includes the 5-star parks, and "Sunparks", which includes the 3- or 4-star parks. At the beginning of 2011 the company decided to rename most Sunparks as Center Parcs.[7]
Center Parcs Europe owns and/or operates 28 Center Parcs resorts and 2 Sunparks resorts.Aroundtown owns the freehold of seven of these resorts.[8]
| Overview of all Center Parcs resorts | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Resort | City | Region | First Opened | Became Center Parcs | Notes |
 Netherlands | De Huttenheugte | Dalen | Drenthe | 1972 | ||
| Parc Sandur* | Emmen | 1999 | 2011 | |||
| De Eemhof | Zeewolde | Flevoland | 1980 | |||
| De Kempervennen | Westerhoven | North Brabant | 1983 | |||
| Het Meerdal | America | Limburg | 1971 | |||
| Het Heijderbos | Heijen | 1986 | ||||
| Limburgse Peel* | America | 1980 | 2002 | |||
| Port Zélande | Ouddorp | South Holland | 1990 | 2002 | ||
| Park Zandvoort* | Zandvoort | North Holland | 1989 | 2002 | ||
 Germany | Park Eifel* | Gunderath | Rhineland-Palatinate | 1979 | 2002 | |
| Park Nordseeküste* | Tossens | Lower Saxony | 1992 | 2002 | ||
| Park Hochsauerland | Medebach | North Rhine-Westphalia | 1994 | 2002 | ||
| Bispinger Heide | Bispingen | Lower Saxony | 1995 | |||
| Park Bostalsee | Nohfelden | Saarland | 2013 | |||
| Park Allgäu | Leutkirch | Baden Württemberg | 2018 | |||
 Denmark | Nordborg Resort | Nordborg | Southern Denmark | 2025 | ||
 France | Les Bois-Francs | Verneuil-sur-Avre | Upper Normandy | 1988 | ||
| Les Hauts de Bruyères | Chaumont-sur-Tharonne | Centre-Val de Loire | 1993 | |||
| Le Lac d'Ailette | Chamouille | Picardy | 2007 | |||
| Les Trois Forêts | Hattigny | Lorraine | 2010 | |||
| Le Bois aux daims | Les Trois-Moutiers,Morton | Nouvelle-Aquitaine | 2015 | |||
| Villages Nature Paris (Disneyland Paris) | Marne-La-Vallée | Île-De-France | 2017 | Originally a joint-venture withEuro Disney S.C.A. | ||
| Les Landes de Gascogne[9] | Beauziac | 2022 | ||||
 Belgium | Erperheide | Peer | Limburg | 1981 | ||
| De Vossemeren | Lommel | 1987 | ||||
| Terhills Resort | Dilsen-Stokkem | 2021 | ||||
| Park De Haan* | De Haan | West Flanders | 1989 | 2007 | ||
| Les Ardennes* | Vielsalm | Luxembourg | 1992 | 2007 | ||
| Sunparks | ||||||
| Kempense Meren | Mol | Antwerp | 1994 | 2007 | ||
| Oostduinkerke | Oostduinkerke | West Flanders | 1981 | 2007 | ||
| Resorts in development | ||||||
| Germany | Pütnitz[10] | Ribnitz-Damgarten | Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | T.B.D. | ||
| Former resorts | ||||||
| Netherlands | De Lommerbergen | Reuver | Limburg | 1968 - 1996 | Sold to Creatief Vakantieparken | |
| Het Vennenbos | Hapert | Noord-Brabant | 1970 - 1994 | |||
| De Berkenhorst | Kootwijk | Gelderland | 1975 - 1990 | |||
 United Kingdom | Sherwood Forest | Rufford | Nottinghamshire | 1987 - 2001 | Spun off intoCenter Parcs UK and Ireland[11] | |
| Elveden Forest | Brandon | Suffolk | 1989 - 2001 | |||
| Longleat Forest | Warminster | Wiltshire | 1994 - 2001 | |||
| *Former Sunparks | ||||||
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
