Longford Forest Celebrates 5 years
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Happy birthday, Longford Forest! We’re celebrating the fifth anniversary of Center Parcs Longford Forest village this week.
A family favourite in the UK for over three decades, Center Parcs has now skyrocketed in popularity in Ireland too. Our Longford Forest village has welcomed over 930,000 guests since opening its doors and is expecting to welcome its millionth later this year.
To mark the occasion, a show-stopping LEGO® replica of the Subtropical Swimming Paradise was positioned outside of the real-life venue for guests to admire. The model was built by internationally renowned Lego artists and former ‘LEGO® Masters’ contestants, Jessica, and Faolán Farrell from Rathangan, Co. Kildare, who spent 105 days building the model using 55,667 bricks.
If you’re lucky enough to be joining us at Longford Forest during our birthday week, you can also enjoy some free celebrations! On Saturday 27th July from 3 – 5pm there will be street performers and a traditional Irish band at the Village Square, and on Monday 29th July from 12 – 2pm there will be street performers and a DJ at the Lakefront – so come along and join the fun!
A few fun facts about Longford Forest:
· The forest resort employs 240 people currently, who all started when the village opened
· It has welcomed approximately 50% of guests down the Subtropical Swimming Paradise’s Wild Water Rapids
· 12,000 guests have celebrated a birthday while enjoying a short break
· It’s home to 7 of the 9 bat species that are found in Ireland, as well as the red squirrel, pine marten and great spotted woodpecker
Guest favourites
While the Subtropical Swimming Paradise is a firm favourite with guests, Adventure Golf has proved to be the most popular outdoor activity in the past five years, with over 150,000 guests ‘putting’ their skills to the test. Indoor Climbing Adventure was the most popular indoor activity, with more than 64,000 guests climbing high.
When it comes to dining, Longford Forest’s range of restaurants have proved incredibly popular with guests, however it’s Huck’s American Bar and Grill that has come out on top - with more than 75,000 families enjoying its South Californian and Mexican-inspired dishes.
Exciting plans ahead
In the past five years, Center Parcs Longford Forest has gone from strength to strength, with construction to expand the resort by 198 lodges beginning in September. Amongst other plans are a planned expansion of the Subtropical Swimming Paradise and award-winning Aqua Sana Spa, as well as a brand-new restaurant, The Coffee House. The spa, which has seen around 25,000 guests visiting for a spa day since opening, currently includes 21 multi-sensory experiences and the expansion will also see the construction of a brand-new Treetop Sauna – taking its offering to exciting new heights!
Some words from Longford Forest’s Village Director, Daragh Feighery:
“Since opening five years ago and bringing a brand-new short break offering to Ireland’s domestic tourism market, Center Parcs Longford Forest has exceeded our expectations, and we are very proud that so many Irish families have taken us to their hearts.
The last five years have been incredible, from welcoming our very first guest to recently announcing our plans to expand the village – which is testament to the hard work of over 1,300 incredible colleagues that work here.
We’re always looking at how we can improve the offering and service, and year on year we have seen an increase in the number of guests that visit and return – and we expect to welcome our millionth by the end of the year. With so much achieved in the last five years, here’s to the next five!”
