Within the context of its program to transform and develop its Center Parcs holiday villages, Groupe Pierre & Vacances-Center Parcs has renewed its 2010 catering contract with Areas, the global travel and leisure catering brand of Elior Group. This 14-year contract now covers the management of catering activities and food outlets of all existing Center Parcs sites in France and Germany, as well as projects under development.

Areas currently ensures the catering of eight Center Parcs domains: Les Bois aux Daims, Les Bois-Francs, Les Hauts de Bruyères, Le Lac d’Ailette and Les Trois Forêts in France, and Bispinger Heide, Hochsauerland and Bostalsee in Germany.  The renewal of this contract extends Areas’ catering activity to include another two Center Parcs sites in Germany and other future domains in the pipeline, notably the one under construction in the region of Allgäu (located in Southern Germany between Bavaria and Baden Wüttemberg).

By drawing on its expertise in travel and catering, Areas offers holidaymakers a variety of unique, round-the-clock catering solutions: table service, fast-food outlets, food stores offering delivery services, and seminar catering.

Areas' catering outlets are perfectly aligned with the Center Parcs universe: catering venues are atmospheric, organize festive and convivial events, offer a variety of menus and brands and propose experiences tailored to meet holidaymakers' needs at all times of their stay.

For Areas, lending support in the transformation of Groupe Pierre & Vacances-Center Parcs’ holiday villages requires modernizing its catering offer by creating new, premium bespoke concepts and forging partnerships with local chefs to optimize the customer experience.

With the holidaymaker central to their innovation strategy, Areas and Groupe Pierre & Vacances-Center Parcs have been working hand in hand to digitalize the customer experience. To this end, they have fitted their catering outlets with connected tables, developed by the Awadac start-up, which offer tableside order and payment solutions, and designed a click & deliver offer.

Martine Balouka-Vallette, Tourist Activities CEO at Groupe Pierre & Vacances-Center Parcs, stated: ”For our guests at Center Parcs’ holiday villages, catering is a key factor in the customer experience. Our strong partnership with Areas is notably underpinned by the ability of both of the groups’ teams to pool their strengths. Drawing on the knowledge acquired by Center Parcs' teams regarding trends in customer expectations and Areas' expertise in catering will enable us to pursue our program to transform our catering solutions in Center Parcs holiday villages by adapting and enhancing the range of concepts on offer, while placing the focus on quality. Access to catering-offer reservation will also be simplified thanks to the joint development and implementation of digital tools designed to optimize the customer experience for our clients.”

Alexandre de Palmas, CEO of Areas in France and Northern Europe, went on to say: ”We are very pleased with the relationship of trust which unites Areas and Groupe Pierre & Vacances-Center Parcs. This partnership has enabled us to create a catering offer that is totaly unique and unmatched at the global level, and which is completely in tune with the Center Parcs universe. Thanks to our catering expertise and the knowledge we have acquired in customer experience digitalization, we are able to facilitate life for holidaymakers and offer them a real experience with quality solutions tailored to meet their specific needs at any time of the day throughout their stay.