A CHILDREN'S theme park chain bucked the tourism trend by celebrating one of its best ever Christmas periods after a strong 2013 - and this year's festive break is already booking up fast thanks to a January sale.
Gulliver's, the family theme park company with attractions in Warrington, Matlock Bath and Milton Keynes, had its best Christmas since 2009 and second best of all time after three consecutive years of enduring more modest winter visitors numbers in bad weather conditions.
Bookings for Christmas 2013 were up by 21 per cent on the previous year's figures and the good news is set to continue, as a January sale has seen Christmas 2014 bookings flood in, with 2,000 customers already snapping up tickets for festive family fun.
Dean Kimberley from Gulliver's said: "We had one of our best summers ever last year thanks to the mild weather making us more accessible, which continued through the winter, so coupled with us constantly adding new attractions this meant the visitors kept coming all year-round.
"Customers are much more price-savvy nowadays so rather than 'too good to be true' offers they're seeking great value all year round which is exactly what we give them. No gimmicks, no confusion - just good, honest family fun."