July highlights a month of investment, resilience, and renewed confidence across the UK leisure industry. 

Holiday parks continue to attract significant attention, with major new attractions opening, award-winning destinations gaining international recognition, and substantial portfolios coming to market. At the same time, golf clubs, hotels, and leisure operators are navigating both expansion opportunities and operational challenges. 

Projects such as the £17.7 million transformation of Haverfordwest Castle demonstrate the growing importance of heritage-led regeneration in driving tourism and local economic growth. 

Browse the stories below that offer a snapshot of an industry embracing both opportunity and change.

• Colliers has been instructed to market 11 UK holiday parks formerly operated by the Cove group, offering a portfolio featuring 2,564 developed pitches with potential to expand to over 3,100 and a 2025 turnover of £41.4 million.

• Three North Devon holiday parks - Woolacombe Bay, Twitchen House, and Easewell Farm have been named among the top 10% of accommodation listings globally after winning at the 2026 Tripadvisor Travellers' Choice Awards.

• Haven has officially opened its £12 million "Lost Lagoon" waterpark at Kent Coast Holiday Park in Allhallows, with TV personality Joe Swash cutting the ribbon on the underwater-themed facility - marking one of the holiday firm's largest-ever investments.

• Former world champion boxer Carl Froch has backed a campaign to save Mapperley Golf Club in Nottingham, which faces potential closure after Gedling Borough Council earmarked the site for 750 homes in its draft Local Development Plan.

• Forest Hill Golf Club, a 140-acre Leicestershire venue built in 1991, has entered administration and is being prepared for sale. The facility remains fully operational and is welcoming new members while administrators seek a new owner.

• Low-cost operator The Gym Group plans to open at least 16 additional UK sites by the end of 2026, driven by strong demand from younger members after average membership surged 5% to surpass one million. 

• Boutique hotel brand THE PIG has officially begun work on its 10th property, THE PIG-on the farm, a 35-bedroom hotel set within a restored Grade II-listed Warwickshire manor house opening next summer which will feature the brand's largest restaurant to date.

• Whitbread has revealed plans to open a 108-room Premier Inn in Hunstanton, subject to planning approval. This would mark the brand's first hotel on the north Norfolk coast and the first in the county since Great Yarmouth Seafront opened in 2019.

• Serco Leisure and Leisure Solutions Community Trust have taken over the management of Charnwood Borough Council leisure centres following the administration of previous operator Fusion Lifestyle, with two of the sites set to run under Serco's MORE Leisure brand featuring refreshed websites.



• Haverfordwest Castle in Pembrokeshire is undergoing a £17.7 million redevelopment to transform the 900-year-old medieval fortress and its Grade II-listed former gaol into a flagship heritage visitor attraction, funded via the UK Government's levelling-up scheme.