The Acquisition of Holiday Parks: Scale, Impacts and Policy Instruments
Across the Netherlands, campsites are being bought and turned into holiday parks with chalets. Seasonal pitch holders risk losing their place, and residents worry about the landscape. At the request of two ministries, the research team investigated the scale, causes and impacts of this trend.
Project duration: 2022
The challenge
The acquisition of holiday parks attracted wide attention from the media and politics. Two motions in the House of Representatives called for research into the consequences for tenants and the living environment, and the measures governments can take.
The Ministries of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and of Economic Affairs and Climate asked CELTH to find out how many parks are involved, what drives the trend, what the impacts are and which instruments governments have.
Our approach
Within a broad consortium, tasks were carefully divided. CELTH, Erasmus University’s UPT group and NRIT Media focused on the scale and impacts of the trend. ETFI researchers were responsible for the sub-study on spatial planning instruments that governments can use to steer the development of holiday parks.
The impact
The study found that the number of seasonal pitches has fallen by 5% over two decades, with a further decline of about 4% expected. This is driven by succession problems in family businesses and attractive returns for developers, not only by acquisitions. Tenants are often unaware of the risks they face, and transformed parks can be more sustainable but also more intensively used.
The study showed that spatial instruments offer effective ways to counter undesirable developments. The results were shared with Parliament and informed the political debate on tenants’ rights.
What could we discover together?
Whether you have a research question, a project idea or an interest in collaborating, we'd love to hear from you.
Contact our team!