CenterParcs “charges more for British guests”

British families are paying more than their European counterparts to stay at Center Parcs resorts across the continent, according to a report from the Consumers’ Association. Today’s edition of the Daily Mail reports the “scandal”, which was reportedly discovered when a member of the Consumers’ Association found he could access cheaper rates for the group’s European resorts if he booked on the Dutch page of the Center Parcs website. Residents of mainland European countries are able to book at the four English Center Parcs resorts at the same price as customers in Britain. The investigation reportedly found that UK families could pay as much as GBP126 extra for a week at the Dutch site at De Eemhof. Pierre Vacances, the French holiday company now running the European side of Center Parcs, reportedly claimed that the extra cost for British guests was needed to cover the costs of employing multi-lingual staff in call centres and at its continental sites. However, a spokesman for the Consumers’ Association told the newspaper: “These claims are just fanciful, it is just a smokescreen. The reality is that, as in so many other areas, British people are being penalised.” At the time of going to press, Center Parcs was not prepared to comment further.