Following a £1.4 million investment in a new visitor centre, function room and café, Carmarthenshire County Council is celebrating a bumper summer at Pembrey Country Park.
“Pembrey Country Park has always been one of Wales’ top visitor attractions but this summer has been extraordinary in terms of the number of visitors and income generated,” explains Neil Thomas Senior Outdoor Recreation Manager. “Over the summer holidays we have experienced a 10 per cent increase in footfall and a 15 per cent uplift in revenue on last year. There is little doubt that our success is due to the improvements we have made to our facilities.
“The natural beauty of the park, with its 500 acres of woodland and eight miles of golden sands has always attracted visitors but we felt we were not supporting the natural beauty with fit for purpose amenities. For example, we offered limited on site catering provision, in particular for the large numbers of guests staying on our caravan site. We were missing a trick from a customer experience and revenue generation point of venue.”
In 2017, Carmarthenshire County Council tasked Alliance Leisure, via the UK Leisure Framework, to design and build a 400 square foot visitor centre, function room and café. Works got underway in February and were completed in 21 weeks, ready for the summer season.
Neil Thomas, adds: “We took the decision to manage the café in house rather than rent the space to a third party. This has been a great decision. During July and August we served more than 50,000 customers.
“The function room has also been popular. So far, we have hosted children’s parties, corporate events and even have our first wedding booked for 2020. The space occupies 60 square feet and is extremely versatile, offering direct access to outside, the café and the restrooms.
Gillian Dunster, Business Development Manager at Alliance Leisure, says: “Our brief was to design and build facilities which would enhance the member experience and provide opportunities to generate new incomes, creating a sustainable future for the Park.
“The first two months of operation suggest that working in close partnership with the council, we have delivered on both counts. Pembrey County Park is an area of natural beauty and now provides visitors with the infra structure they need to fully enjoy all the activities on offer from dry slope skiing and crazy golf to adventure play, horse riding, camping and nature trails.”