In order to get the best conditions for booking your stay, it is always cheaper to book well in advance.
Center Parcs, the well-known vacation village, is no exception: Currently, offers with a discount of up to 36% are available on their sites.
A unique and innovative concept born 55 years ago, the brand is opening a new chapter in its history with a new visual identity and strong ambitions.
Center Parcs, a pioneer in vacations in the heart of nature, is a concept that remains without equal in Europe. Present in France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, the brand has undergone a profound transformation in recent years, accelerated by the “Reinvention 2025” strategic plan: moving upmarket, renovating cottages and infrastructure, creating new experiences and activities to discover and better understand nature, and better integrating the estates into their local environment.
This change is now embodied in a new brand positioning and a completely redesigned visual identity. More than ever, Center Parcs wants to respond to the growing need to feel connected to each other, as close to nature as possible. The brand aims to inspire everyone to reconnect with nature and their loved ones.
“Bringing people together in the middle of nature: that’s what inspired Piet Derksen 55 years ago when he founded Center Parcs. It’s what still inspires us every day, and we’re taking that ambition even further today. The world around us is changing. Holidaymakers’ expectations have evolved in favor of more local and sustainable tourism, a fundamental trend to which Center Parcs is responding. The brand has been able to reinvent itself by renovating its offer and proposing new experiences, while integrating its estates even more into their local environment. We also believe that “being together” has taken on a broader meaning. Family now extends to all those who are dear to us: our colleagues, our friends or even our sports partners! With our new brand positioning, we want everyone to be able to create memories and share experiences that will stay with them for a long time,” says Andres Neira de Back, Center Parcs Europe Marketing Director.
A NEW VISUAL IDENTITY
To embody its transformation, Center Parcs is unveiling its new brand platform and visual identity. The result of close collaboration with the English agency DesignStudio, the new Center Parcs logo – unchanged since 1998 – is resolutely more modern, stylish and elegant.
“This new logo is based on the reputation of the Center Parcs name and its initials. It expresses the values that are most important to the brand: a strong connection with our loved ones in the heart of nature and is accompanied by a new color palette that fits perfectly with this idea. The tones are both natural and vivid and recall all the shades that can be found in nature. With its monogram and emblematic shapes, it gives Center Parcs a strong, recognizable image that embodies its renewal,” explains Andres Neira de Back.
“To develop this new visual identity, we immersed ourselves in the Center Parcs experience. We visited different estates across Europe, talked to customers and stakeholders, and explored the brand’s history. We realized that the concept was based on both people and nature. From these roots, we wanted to capture how human and nature were connected and thus symbolize how the brand allows everyone to reconnect. This became our guiding vision for reimagining the Center Parcs experience through every touchpoint and unifying all communications,” says Vinay Mistry, Executive Creative Director of DesignStudio.
RENOVATIONS AND UPGRADES
For the past three years, Center Parcs has been carrying out a vast plan to thoroughly renovate the majority of its existing cottages and infrastructure, with the goal of having 100% of its properties new or renovated by 2024.
Olivier Garaïalde, General Manager of Center Parcs Europe, explains: “To improve and broaden our offer, the cottages are equipped with new furniture and a modern and contemporary interior design. They are available in a number of categories, from the Comfort range to the Exclusive range, with an unusual and unique offer: Farmhouse, Treehouse or Floating; Adventure cottage, Beach Chilla or Tales of the Kingdom. The idea is to make our accommodations real playgrounds! This goes hand in hand with our investments to renovate our infrastructures such as the Aqua Mundo, the indoor and outdoor playgrounds, the restaurants and our educational farms. 740 million has been invested in the renovation and upgrading of our offer.
With the opening of the Terhills Resort in Belgium (May 2021), Les Landes de Gascogne in France (May 2022), the inauguration of the new Nordborg Resort in Denmark in 2024, a new project in Germany, and additional investments in digitalization to enhance the customer experience, the new Center Parcs is already in full swing.
EDUTAINMENT EXPERIENCES LINKED TO NATURE
“Learn, do, create”: it is on this credo that Center Parcs develops new experiences for its customers, all inspired by the local environment of each domain. At Landes de Gascogne, for example, holidaymakers are immersed in the theme of “Nature’s Wonders” through edutainment activities closely linked to the seasonal nature and riches of the Lot-et-Garonne region. Last March, the Het Meerdal estate (Netherlands) launched the “Nature Experience”, an immersive concept in the heart of nature. In the same vein, the De Vossemeren (Belgium) and Bispinger Heide (Germany) estates offer visitors the chance to go on an adventure on a nature trail or to take part in an exciting activity with a ranger.
Objective?” To create for our vacationers new and original experiences in the heart of nature, to learn while marveling. We want to make knowledge of living things accessible to as many people as possible, regardless of age, whether we live in the city or the country, whether we are already very involved or have only recently become aware of the issue. And we want everyone to leave having learned something new, whether it’s how to bake their own bread, create an insect hotel or take care of animals,” says Andres Neira de Back.
ESTATES OPEN TO THEIR ENVIRONMENT
Each Center Parcs domain is located in a natural setting, 90% of which is made up of forests and lakes. Respect for the environment is at the heart of the brand’s commitments, and it aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions from energy consumption by 46% by 2030 (compared with 2019).
100% of Center Parcs properties are ISO 14001 and ISO 50001 certified and have been awarded the “Green Key” label. This triple certification, unprecedented in the sector, attests to the quality of the brand’s environmental management system and the management of its estates in terms of waste recycling, energy consumption and water management.
With their genuine local roots, whether natural, economic or social, Center Parcs estates encourage holidaymakers to discover the environment of the areas in which they are located. Tourist information offices are located on each estate. Guests can also take advantage of a local producers’ market and find regional specialties on the grounds. These initiatives are intended to be expanded and extended to all the resorts in Europe.
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