Case Study: In Defence of Centre Parcs

Have you seen the M. Night Shyamalan film, The Village?

It’s about a group of people who live in a 19th century community, surrounded by woodland. They never venture out for fear of what they might find, preferring the safety of the place they know.

Some of the children get curious, and make a break for it. When they do, they [SPOILER ALERT] find that on the other side of the woods, there’s a motorway, and they’ve actually been trapped in this life by the village elders, afraid of what the modern world holds.

I always think of this film when I visit a Centre Parcs.

If you say to people you’re off there for the weekend, you usually get one of three reactions:

Could fly to Greece for that price!

Ah, the mini-break of the middle-classes!

Enjoy getting sick in the pool!

Now, none of these are unfair.

It is expensive. You are largely surround by people who vote Liberal Democrat. I’ve had Norovirus more than once (I won’t look at a badminton court the same again.)

And yes, it lacks the culture, the exploration, the adventure, the excitement, the food, the sunshine, the sea, and the surprise of a holiday elsewhere.

But it excels at the one thing that matters more than anything else to people wanting a short break away, particularly with children: certainty.

To start with, everyone knows the rules of Centre Parcs. Get there at 3pm, unload the car, move car to the car park, leave it there for the weekend, pick it up again at 9am Monday morning.

And with it being car-less, it takes away any holiday stress of driving or any worries about being on time. Everything is in walking distance, no more than 15 minutes away (a 15-minute city, if you will). And because it’s car-less, you’re more relaxed about the little ones - or yourself, in fact - walking, running, or scooting on the roads.

The lodges and pool are superbly accessible, a wristband for the house, the same one for your locker. And if you forget which number you put your stuff in, a quick touch of the band to a screen will let you know where to go.

In the pool, the same certainty exists. Only one way in, and one way out, so no chance of kids running off out of sight. And lifeguards everywhere, overly keen on their whistles, helping you feel confident that someone has one eye on your kids.

More than that, every Centre Parcs, whilst a bit different, is the same. The routine is the same. The layout - pool, spa, sports centre, lake - is the same. The lodges, the same (with the same chalkboard to keep people entertained whilst the bags get unpacked)

That’s not to say it gets everything right. Last time I was there, they had to clear the pool rapids due to ‘an incident’ (a child losing a tooth, apparently). The communication wasn’t great, leading to one half-naked conspiracy theorists shouting out to the crowd ‘they’re saying it’s a tooth, but who knows what the real truth is’.

Whilst we were playing an impromptu street football match, one of their small delivery trucks silently drove through the middle of the game, parked up, and handed over it’s food, all without the driver raising an eyebrow or a smile.

And the less said about this soap placement, the better (although as Keiran Bouri said when I posted that on my Insta, I guess they’re not claiming to be called left or right Parcs)

Overall though, it’s the certainty that gives Centre Parcs it’s worth. The approach is simple and repeatable, making it easy to be a customer there. It’s not for everyone at every time, but for those weekends where you don’t want to think, it’s the place to be.

Just like ordering a Big Mac in any McDonalds in the world, you just know what you’re getting.

And at no point do you have to step outside of the woods.

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed it, please do share. And if you need any help with improving your organisation’s customer experience or creating a more customer-led future, come and find me and the team at The Foundation.