Newquay boasts a third of the top graded holiday parks and campsites in the south west.

There are approximately 220 graded Parks in Cornwall which have received official gradings by the AA or English Tourism Council (ETC). Of the 220 parks, 27 are graded as five star and Newquay is home to eight of them.

In total, Newquay has 37 Parks offering a great range of quality accommodation and facilities to visitors. 18 of the parks (half of them) have received a top grade four (excellent) or five (exceptional) grading and three of the Parks have an equivalent four or five AA Pennant rating.

Camping holidays are a popular choice for families and couples alike. Research by VisitCornwall in 2007 showed around one in ten visitors were visiting Cornwall on a camping/caravan holiday. Anecdotal reports suggest that with the current economic climate, even more people are choosing caravan and camping holidays this year as they find more cost effective ways to holiday.

The eight Parks with five star ratings are featured on the official, award winning Tourism Newquay website www.visitnewquay.org:

- Hendra Holiday Park - Trevella - Newperran - Treworgans - Sun Haven Valley - Mawgan Porth Park - Whiteacres - Trevornick

Tourism Newquay�s Business Development Manager Richard Wilcox said: �Newquay�s accommodation offer has improved greatly over the past few years and it�s fantastic to see that we can boast a third of the south west�s top rated Parks in Newquay.

�With lots of people choosing caravan and camping holidays as a cost effective way of taking a family holiday, it is great that Newquay can offer such a high standard of Park, both in terms of the accommodation and the facilities they offer.�

Of the 37 Parks in Newquay 34 are �family and couples only�. At full capacity these parks account for approximately 7,000 units (pitches or statics) accommodating a conservative estimate of in the region of 30,000 family/couples visitors.

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Photography: Hendra Holiday Park, one of Newquay�s top rated Parks

Notes to editors:

Tourism Newquay - The newly formed official tourism body for Newquay with a strategic remit to oversee, plan and market Newquay as holiday destination - Tourism Newquay is a public/private partnership between Cornwall Council, VisitCornwall, Newquay Town Council and a number of businesses across Newquay representing the different tourism sectors. Representatives will be voted on the board on an annual basis - Tourism Newquay has appointed a Business Development Manager, Richard Wilcox to oversee and drive forward new marketing initiatives, forge trade relationships and increase marketing revenue via business support and buy-in - Tourism businesses across Newquay will have the opportunity of becoming a member and given voting rights at future Tourism Newquay AGMs. Membership will bring a range of benefits including enhanced marketing opportunities, business support, discounted fees on business related courses & workshops For more information please contact:

Shelley Fletcher PR on behalf of Tourism Newquay Deborah Clark Associates 01208 77900 / 07796 175634 shelley.fletcher@dca-pr.co.uk