Well-loved Peak District theme park sold out over summer despite coronavirus fears

A rise in staycations over the summer has helped a popular tourist attraction in the Peak District ‘ride the coronavirus wave’.
Julie Dalton, managing director of Gulliver’s Theme Park resorts.Julie Dalton, managing director of Gulliver’s Theme Park resorts.
Julie Dalton, managing director of Gulliver’s Theme Park resorts.

Gulliver’s Kingdom in Matlock Bath, which was unable to open until July, has revealed that, despite the obvious challenges this year, the park was sold out for the entire month of August.

Julie Dalton, managing director of Gulliver’s Theme Park Resorts, said: “We know that the Peak District is a much-loved tourist destination and because the holiday market continued to perform well in this area, even with the difficulties the whole industry has faced, it did have a positive impact on Gulliver’s Kingdom and we had a better summer period than expected.

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“As part of numerous measures introduced to ensure the park is Covid secure, we have capped entry numbers.

"But, for every day in August we were sold out which shows that the demand for safe enjoyable days out and short stays for families is still very much there.

" It’s clear from our customer feedback that new customers have come to the Peak District over the summer for the first time as they wanted to explore what is on their doorstep.

“We have also been quick to adapt our offering to cater for what the market wants in these turbulent times and introduced exciting activities for the autumn, such as Dino Trail sleepovers and Spook Safari at Hallowe’en , which sold really well. In addition, we are already taking bookings for 2021.”

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It was back in 1978, when Ray and Hilary Phillips crea ted a model village on the hillside of Matlock Bath for young children to enjoy and, in turn, went on to create some of the country’s most successful theme park resorts.

The company remains in the same family to this day with Julie Dalton, Ray and Hilary’s daughter, now managi ng director and her brother Nick, who is development director.

Julie added: “It has been more tricky than usual in 2020 than ever before but I feel we have ridden the coronavirus wave as best we can and the increase in staycations in beautiful parts of the country, such as Derbyshire, has really helped us.”