As families look for holidays which costs hundreds rather than thousands this summer, some of the best-value deals can be found at holiday parks.

This sector is much-improved in recent years, led by substantial investment from major players such as Park Resorts, Parkdean and Haven.

“We face a difficult trading environment. Confidence is low and the spending power of many households has been compromised,” says Tim Gibson, sales and marketing director of Haven Holidays and part of the management team at Bourne Leisure.

Bourne Leisure is the biggest operator of UK holidays, providing 3.75 million holidays a year through major brands Haven, Warner Leisure Hotels and Butlins.

Haven has 35 UK holiday parks and it spent £55 million last winter on new facilities and accommodation, better landscaping and much-improved menus to offer meals from breakfast to dinner.

Haven has also improved facilities – heated shower blocks, covered dishwashing facilities and hard-standing pitches with electricity, water and drainage – for touring caravans, motorhomes and campers, available from £6 per night.

Dedicated wardens at most parks can help camping and caravanning novices.

A Haven survey found mobile home holidays increasingly attract professional families higher up the income scale.

Served in a gastro-pub setting, Haven’s freshly-prepared dishes, salads and vegetarian menus includes early-morning pancakes, yoghurts and croissants for breakfast, light salads including seared salmon and a blackened Cajun chicken noodle salad, and an extensive grill menu with steaks, salmon and chicken.

There are plenty of fast-food options too. Haven parks feature high-street brands such as Starbucks, Papa John’s Pizzas and Burger King, while 21 parks have their own ‘Mash and Barrel’ brand to offer a choice of meals this summer.

Tim says: “Some people will trade down with their holidays because of cost pressures, while others may be deterred from going abroad by the euro-pound relationship.

“Other factors working against travel abroad are turmoil in the Middle East, and natural disasters like those in New Zealand and Japan.”

Around 650,000 families – or 2.5 million visitors in total – head for Haven parks each year, paying from £129 (total price) for a short break in the spring to £1,455 for a peak-season week in a top-of-the-range Platinum holiday home on a five-star park.

In standard Haven accommodation, a family of four will pay around £650 for a peak-season week in August.

INFORMATION: Haven (0871 2301933 and haventouring.co.uk); Butlins (0845 0704730 and butlins.com); Park Resorts (0843 3092591 and park-resorts.com).