On Community Tourism Day 2026, Sarah is delighted to join Holiday and Residential Parks Association (HARPA) colleagues and their 3,000 park members across the UK in highlighting how the sector supports and empowers local communities.

Across Scotland in particular, there is a growing focus on ensuring tourism works with communities, not just around them. Holiday parks, represented by HARPA, are a strong example of this in action.

Often family-owned and rooted in place, parks are closely connected to their local areas. Their success depends on thriving communities, creating a model of tourism that is long-term, collaborative and locally focused. Their impact goes beyond accommodation, with visitors supporting local businesses while parks create jobs, work with nearby suppliers and contribute to community life.

This is reflected in practical ways. At Dalraddy Holiday Park, a street food hub provides opportunities for small businesses while enhancing the experience for both visitors and locals. At Sandgreen Caravan Park, collaboration with local schools is helping young people engage. Red Deer Village hosted a ‘social impact day’ in May 2025 and created a video demonstrating its commitment to residents, visitors and the wider community. Across the HARPA membership, parks also support sports clubs, local charities and offer respite stays for carers.

As family businesses, many parks invest for the long term, supporting both their sites and the wider community. They also play an important social role, creating spaces where people come together.

Through HARPA’s Parks Make Places campaign, the sector continues to demonstrate how tourism can deliver lasting local benefit.

Community Tourism Day is a reminder that everyone has a role to play in shaping a better visitor economy. Holiday parks show that this does not always require a new model, but a conscious one—one that values local relationships and supports local economies, demonstrating that tourism can be rooted in community, supportive of livelihoods, respectful of place and beneficial for both visitors and residents.

Across the HARPA membership, that approach is already happening consistently, and with real impact. Scotland’s holiday parks show that community tourism is not just an ambition, but a reality that others can learn from—and that everyone can play a role in empowering communities through tourism.