Center Parcs is to open its first holiday village in Scotland.
The new resort, costing between £350 million to £400 million, is to be located near Hawick in the Scottish Borders.
The company currently has six sites in the UK and Ireland after it withdrew plans last year to develop a village in West Sussex.
Proposals for the expansion into Scotland are at an early stage and Center Parcs intends to submit a planning application for about 700 lodges in 2025, according to the company.
Chief executive Colin McKinlay said: “This is a tremendously exciting project and offers the opportunity to transform leisure and tourism in the Scottish Borders. Center Parcs is an exceptionally popular destination for families in the UK and Ireland and there is robust demand to support a seventh village.
“Throughout our history, we have demonstrated that a Center Parcs village provides significant economic benefits locally, regionally and nationally.
“Many Scottish families already visit Center Parcs villages in England, and this village will offer the chance for people to enjoy their holidays closer to home, which in turn will benefit the local economy.
“Sustainability is core to our values. In our three decades of operating in the UK and Ireland, we have transformed areas of commercial woodland into a rich tapestry of flora and fauna, considerably enhancing the biodiversity of each village. This site gives us the opportunity to take a bold, new approach and create a woodland ourselves, delivering significant biodiversity net gain and planting thousands of new trees.
“We are at an early stage with these proposals and have a lengthy and thorough planning process ahead. We have already conducted a significant number of surveys to assess the site and we intend to continue with additional site surveys and design development, alongside a programme of pre-planning application consultation and community engagement.”
David Hope-Jones, chief executive of The South of Scotland Destination Alliance, said: “We welcome this news of the proposal to build Scotland’s first Center Parcs village in the Scottish Borders as it will create significant economic and community benefit, bring new visitors to the region and increase interest in the south of Scotland.
“The scale of the investment and potential is immense; it represents a huge endorsement of our region’s fast-growing reputation as a year-round destination.”
He added: “With an estimated 1,200 new local jobs set to be created, in addition to those created during the construction, this has the potential to transform many of our local communities.
Our South of Scotland 2024-34 responsible tourism strategy aims to increase the number of jobs in our visitor economy by 6,000 over the next decade and this one proposed development has the potential to achieve 20% of this ten-year regional target.
“In addition, Center Parcs has a strong commitment to using local food and drink produce, contracting local suppliers, and supporting its local communities through its community fund and charity fund work.
“With many thousands of visitors each year expected to stay at the proposed Center Parc village, this is a huge opportunity to see many of them exploring the local area before, during and after their visits, increasing spend in the local tourism economy.
“We look forward to working closely with Center Parcs in the coming months and years to ensure this new development is sustainably embedded at the centre of our visitor economy and our communities.”