Alpamare boss plans cheaper entry for residents

Alpamare in Scarborough reopened on Wednesday

The new boss of a Scarborough water park said he planned to offer cheaper entry to local residents, as the centre reopened following a seven-month closure.

Alpamare was forced to shut in December after its previous owner went into administration, but was taken over by Flamingo Land.

The £14m park reopened on Wednesday, and boss Gordon Gibb said membership promotions would make entry "a lot cheaper" for residents.

Mr Gibb said he wanted to encourage people to visit "hopefully multiple times".

Flamingo Land chief executive Gordon Gibb said Alpamare would welcome community groups

Alpamare was taken on by North Yorkshire Council in December.

Five months later, it was announced Flamingo Land would run the park for a year.

During the time Alpamare was originally open, there was criticism - much of it from people in Scarborough - that ticket prices were too expensive.

Now the park has reopened, a high-season day ticket for a family of four is £70, dropping to £62 after 17:00 BST.

From September 2, the prices drop to £62 and £55.

Mr Gibb said: "We wanted to go very steady with the pricing.

"Although there have been increases in utility costs and everything we have done to get this far, we still want to see people through the door and hopefully multiple times.

"So we are trying to go steady, perhaps people will have two visits in a month instead of just one."

Postcode offers

Mr Gibb said Alpamare was "definitely" looking to get local community groups involved with the park's timetable.

"Those low-season times when the aquafit and other groups would be getting involved is when otherwise the water park wouldn't be busy.

"So we're going to embrace all that, and yes, we will have postcode-specific membership promotions."

Senior North Yorkshire councillor Heather Phillips was at Alpamare to see the park's final preparations before its reopening.

She said: "It's an amazing day to see this park back open.

"It has always massively supported the local tourism economy.

"We're looking for an attraction that people will come to, tell their friends and improve the business case so we can keep it going."

Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail].