Cornwall holiday park among cream of English holiday providers
Family and staff at a Cornwall holiday park are celebrating after it was named this spring as one of England’s top three destinations for caravan and camping guests.
Polmanter Touring Park in St Ives took the Bronze accolade in the holiday parks category of April’s VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2018.
It completes a hat-trick of honours received by Polmanter which is this year marking its 50th anniversary of providing holidays at its stunning seaside location.
In winter, the park was the overall category winner in the Cornwall Tourism Awards, going on to strike gold again in the South West Tourism Excellence Awards.
The two honours propelled Polmanter into the England for Excellence finals where judges declared that its high quality standards deserved a pole position in the awards.
Stepping up to receive their trophy from TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp at the Bath Assembly Rooms were husband-and-wife park owners Phil and Becki Osborne.
Phil is one of the sons of dairy farmers John and Sheena Osborne who, in 1968, began welcoming campers on one of their pastures with spectacular views along the Cornish coast.
Today, Polmanter still provides the same iconic outlook – but with features such as a heated lido pool, spa, tennis court, play areas, and a shop with Cornish food and drink specialities.
Local produce, freshly prepared, is also a highlight on the menu of the park’s snug Stable Bar which occupies the farm’s former milking parlour.
Becki Osborne, who combines co-managing Polanter with her role as a local family GP, said the Excellence accolade would be the highlight of the park’s anniversary year:
“It’s especially pleasing that a main factor of these awards is the hospitality and quality of welcome which is provided to holiday guests,” she said.
“Delivering this is very much in the hands of our loyal and hardworking staff, so they deserve a large share of the credit for this achievement.
“I hope the publicity from these awards will also benefit other tourism businesses in the area by putting the spotlight on Cornwall as a fantastic place for family holidays,” Becki added.
There is more information about Polmanter, which is a member of the Best of British consortium of top family-owned holiday parks, at www.polmanter.co.uk
