by Ed Davies
Ladram Bay Holiday Park in Budleigh Salterton is flying high after a hat-trick of awards this autumn, including an honour from botanist David Bellamy for its honey bee friendly policies
The triple triumphs for the park began at the start of November when it was named as the Devon, Somerset and Dorset winner of the Hoseasons “family fun” award.
The major holiday bookings agency announced Ladram Bay’s accolade at its annual conference in Birmingham, based on parks which produce the highest customer satisfaction rating.
It was the sixth year in succession that the Carter family, owners of the park for over 70 years, has been celebrated in the finals of the event.
Ladram Bay next stepped into the spotlight at November’s finals of the Devon Tourism Awards, held at a glittering ceremony at the Great Hall at the University of Exeter.
It was declared by judges to be among the top three holiday parks in the county, and family members stepped up to receive the bronze honour in its category.
The park’s environmental policies were marked in the third of the accolades it received this month: the David Bellamy Conservation Award.
Given to parks making exceptional efforts to protect and enhance the natural world, the award was made to Ladram Bay at the top gold level for the third year running.
Professor Bellamy also designated Ladram Bay as an official “Honey Bee Friendly” park as part of his new initiative to help protect the threatened insects.
He praised the park’s extensive areas of high nectar-bearing flowers which provide vital foraging resources for both honey bees and common and less familiar butterflies.
Also highlighted in David Bellamy’s wildlife audit was Ladram Bay’s widespread planting of native trees, and the siting of nesting boxes for bats and owls, as well as bird-feeding stations.
Ladram Bay first began welcoming camping guests in the 1940s, and has since grown to become one of Devon’s most popular holiday parks attracting tens of thousands of visitors each year.
It provides a raft of attractions as well as holiday homes to rent or own, brand new glamping pods, and pitches for touring caravans, motorhomes and tents.
Director and family member Zoe House said the three awards provided a great conclusion to what has been a busy and successful year for the park:
“It’s been a fantastic twelve months for us at Ladram Bay, and our hard-working team members here have all gone the extra mile on our customers’ behalf,” she said.
“It’s therefore very appropriate that their efforts should be recognised in all of these three highly regarded awards which the park has received over the past few weeks.
“Our staff play an invaluable part in maintaining the high quality standards of customer care and hospitality which have led to our two tourism awards.
“They also have a vital role in helping implement the various sustainability policies we have in place, and which led to David Bellamy’s gold conservation award,” added Zoe.
Ladram Bay’s general manager Claire Williams said the park would continue investing in its customer facilities:
“We’ve had a great reaction to our most recent developments which include a new swimming pool complex and a Jurassic-themed adventure golf course,” she said.
“But we are always looking for additional new ways to improve the customer experience, especially for the many families with children who are our core market.
“Bookings for next year are already looking very buoyant, so we are all cautiously optimistic about bringing even more visitors to this glorious region on 2017,” added Claire.
