Center Parcs want to build its first site in Scotland near Hawick in the Scottish Borders.

A tourism chief has compared the interest of Center Parcs in the Scottish Borders to a “blue whale arriving in a medium-sized pond”.

The hugely-successful holiday park company wants to build a £400 million site near Hawick, with a potential opening date of early 2029 proposed.

An impression of some of the lodges planned for the proposed Centre Parcs site near Hawick in the Scottish Borders. Picture: Centre Parcs. | An impression of some of the lodges planned for the proposed Centre Parcs site near Hawick in the Scottish Borders. PIC: Centre Parcs.

Center Parcs has signed an option for the land with the Duke of Buccleuch. The company’s commitment to the area comes as major work advances in the Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway to boost tourism revenue by £1 billion by 2034.

David Hope-Jones, chief executive of the South of Scotland Destination Alliance (SSDA), said the investment of Center Parcs and the associated visitor numbers could be “transformative” for the area.

Mr Hope-Jones said: “Essentially, it is the equivalent of a medium-sized pond and suddenly a blue whale arrives. It is the largest single investment that there has ever been - £400m. It is larger than the entire cost of the Borders Railway.

“It is going to create 1,200 year-round permanent jobs and that is probably where the biggest impact will be.

“When you take 1,200 jobs, even if they were at minimum wage, which they won’t be, that is a total salary of £30m to £40m a year. That is going into pockets where it wasn’t before.

“You look at Hawick, Jedburgh , Selkirk - these are towns that lost their mills between the 1970s and 1990s. Hawick High Street can feel like a depressing place at times. This is the equivalent of re-opening several of those old mills, but in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way.”

Centre Parcs has proposed to build a new site on Duke of Buccleuch land just north of Hawick in the Scottish Borders. PIC: SSDA. | Centre Parcs has proposed to build a new site on Duke of Buccleuch land just north of Hawick in the Scottish Borders. PIC: SSDA.

Center Parcs wants to build 700 lodges and accompanying tourist facilities on a site to the north of the town. If approved, it will be the company’s first site in Scotland and its seventh in the UK and Ireland.

A series of public consultations has been held, with the most recent one last week at Hawick Rugby Club attended by Center Parcs’ chief executive Colin McKinlay and Rajbinder Singh-Dehal, the chief corporate officer.

Some concerns have been voiced about the loss of usable farmland and also that visitors might not venture into the surrounding area, according to accounts.

Mr Hope-Jones said his own research found the “overwhelming majority” of businesses locally were “strongly supportive” of the development.

He said: “I would say there hasn’t been a single item of news that has had such consistent positivity in places such as Hawick in decades and decades. I did a survey of businesses after one week and after six months and the overwhelming majority are strongly supportive.”

Mr Hope-Jones said it was expected the SSDA would sign a formal partnership with Center Parcs by the time a planning application was submitted, which is due to happen in July.

The partnership would look to encourage Center Parcs guests - with 35,000 a year expected to stay at the Hawick site - to explore the surrounding area.

“Even if we are only talking 10 per cent of guests bolting on a three or four-night stay afterwards, that would be transformative,” Mr Hope-Jones said.

He added: “The extraordinary thing about Center Parcs is not just the price point they command, the brand loyalty they command, but also their occupancy rates. They are phenomenal.

“The most recent Center Parcs was built in Longford in the middle of Ireland, the bit that no one really knew about. Within five years - and it included Covid - they have got an occupancy rate of 98.8 per cent.

“It has taken one of the poorest areas of Ireland into one of the most economically active areas of Ireland in terms of job creation and taxation. The growth is unprecedented.

“That is what we are aiming for here. The key is not relying on anything, not assuming that a £400m investment will achieve anything. It is about the detail, the partnership and making sure that the cog - however big it is - is connecting all the other small and medium cogs in our existing visitor economy.”

Center Parcs coming to the Scottish Borders is like a 'blue whale arriving in a medium-sized pond'

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