Stuart Angus, director of spa for Center Parcs UK and Ireland, has announced the launch of a nationwide advertising campaign that will drive non-resident guests to the company’s spa facilities.

Angus revealed at the annual UKSA networking event at Center Parcs Woburn Forest this week (30 July) that the company’s new campaign for Aqua Sana Forest Spa is called Leave the World Behind.

The campaign includes a video that asks consumers to “take themselves back to nature”, breathe deeply and feel connected and revitalised at the forest-inspired facilities.

Guests staying at any of the six Center Parcs villages can pay extra to access to the Aqua Sana Forest Spa or have treatments, but Angus admitted the number of guests using the spa is limited due to accommodation capacity constraints. One of the reasons on-site guests don't always choose to visit the spa is that they want to spend time with their families and children, rather than being separated by using the spa.

Angus said, “We’ll always try and increase the internal market moving forward, but the reality is that our future growth will come from the external market.”

The spas are the only part of Center Parcs’ business that is open to external customers via day spa packages, but in an interview with Spa Business in 2023, Angus described them as “sleeping giants”. While the industry is aware of these facilities, which can include up to 25 heat experiences, Angus has been preparing to build brand awareness among the general public.

In 2023 Angus said the six Aqua Sana Forest Spas welcomed 37,000 guests a month, which he updated on Wednesday to 45,000 guests a month.

In 2023 he also said the six spas generated £33 million (US$39.8 million, €38 million) annually and accounted for up to 70 per cent of leisure activity revenues across the group.

Angus told Katie Barnes, editor of Spa Business, that at each Center Parcs village, the current mix of external and internal visitors to the spas is approximately 50:50, but this advertising campaign will boost the number of external guests.

Brand refresh

At the end of 2024, the company rebranded its spa facilities to Aqua Sana Forest Spa in preparation for this campaign.

Historically, Aqua Sana was the umbrella brand for Center Parcs’ spa offering. Its Forest Spa component – originally called World of Spa – represented the expansive hydrothermal facilities at the business’ different locations.

The brand’s name now includes both elements and the word ‘spa’ for recognisability.

Angus said: “I was just a little bit conscious that, from a consumer perspective, [the historic concept for the spa] might not necessarily resonate with everybody.”

It took five years for the brand refresh to be completed, including the addition of forest-inspired thermal facilities at sites including Sherwood Forest, , Longleat Forest and Elveden Forest.

Scottish location

Angus also revealed further details for the company’s first holiday village in Scotland, which we first reported on at the end of last year.

He said the project is progressing at “a really fast pace” in Hawick, on the A7 between Carlisle and Edinburgh.

Planning for the resort was approved earlier in July and it is slated to open in early June 2029.

He expects the entire village, which requires an investment of £350-400 million (US$443-507 million, €418-480 million), will offer a similar boost to local employment levels to the kind experienced in Woburn when the Center Parcs village opened there.

Angus said the spa will be similar to the Aqua Sana Forest Spa that exists in the company’s Irish Longford Village. It will have treatment rooms, a full forest thermal spa experience and a Vitale restaurant.

The company is working with Neil Fairplay and the team at Sparcstudio on the design.

Footnotes

Center Parcs has a team of 600 spa staff.