About Center Parcs

Founded in the 1960s by Piet Derksen, Center Parcs revolutionized the holiday experience by creating parks with cottages, a concept that was new at the time. Their core mission, which remains true today, is to help people "reconnect, recharge, and truly belong" by inspiring them to connect with nature and each other.

Today, Center Parcs is a leader in local and sustainable tourism, operating 30 parks across five countries: Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. These parks feature more than 18,000 cottages and welcome approximately 4.4 million guests annually. The company's workforce of over 10,000 colleagues, whom they call "Happy Family Makers," is dedicated to creating unforgettable holiday experiences.

Hear the story first-hand

We also hosted a webinar with Center Parcs, where Simone van der Kar, Internal Communication & Event Specialist at Center Parcs, shared how they built CP Inside with Speakap and the impact it’s having across their workforce.

The Challenge: Colleagues were flooded with tools, yet craving simplicity, clarity, and connection

Before Speakap, communication landscape was fragmented

• Internal communication was happening across many channels, which showed how active and engaged teams were - but also highlighted the opportunity to bring everything together in one clear, central place
• Departments were well-informed about their own priorities, and Center Parcs saw the potential to strengthen cross-park and company-wide visibility so everyone could feel more connected to the bigger picture
• Operational updates were strong and consistent, giving a solid foundation. CP Inside created an opportunity to place more emphasis on our mission, values and culture - and bring them even closer to our daily work. At the same time, colleagues were eager to connect. They didn’t just want top-down updates - they wanted to share the everyday stuff with each other too: shift wins, social moments, life at the park..

As Simone van der Kar, Internal Communication & Event Specialist at Center Parcs, put it:

Our colleagues were navigating many different tools, yet they were still craving something simple, something clear, just one place to go where they could find all the information they needed.

It was time for a change.

From Objectives to Action: simplifying internal communication by implementing a central platform where employees can find all the information they need

For Center Parcs, solving communication challenges was never just about reducing tools. It was about making internal communication count. Their goals were clear:

• Simplifying & optimizing - one channel instead of many.
• Company values & culture - communication that reflects who they are, not just what needs to be done.
• The right fit - the right message, to the right people, on the right channel, at the right time.
• Moving to the next level - shifting from basic operational updates to communication that drives connection, inclusion, and belonging.

As Simone van der Kar, Internal Communication & Event Specialist at Center Parcs, explains:

We really wanted to have one digital solution that informs, aligns, engages our entire workforce and creates a strong culture. And that is why we chose Speakap.

That solution became CP Inside, an employee communication platform built by Speakap.

• One simple platform to make communication clearer and more effortless.
• One strong community to connect parks, head offices, teams, and individuals.
• One voice and one vision to align every colleague with strategy, values, and culture.

With CP Inside, every employee - whether HR, or at the front desk - now has equal access to what matters, in their own language, at the right time, and the space to communicate with each other.

Or as Simone puts it:

With Speakap, it’s not only about sharing news - it’s about creating transparency and connection, turning colleagues into true ambassadors.

The Implementation: How CP Inside Works

Rolling out CP Inside wasn’t just about turning on a new platform. Center Parcs had to solve two big challenges:

1. Structuring information clearly - so every employee knew exactly where to go for the right updates.
2. Scaling with a small comms team - since the central team couldn’t possibly manage communication across every park, country, and department.

The answer was a clear structure and a network internal of content creators. Here’s how it’s set up:

• CP Europe: Managed by the comms team and board members, sharing strategic company-wide updates in English. For example, when they organized a European Sports Day, the aftermovie was shared here so colleagues across all countries could relive the event together.
• Country Pages: Local updates managed by each Managing Director and project leads, shared in the local language. For example, on the Netherlands page, the Country Managing Director posted a thank-you message to the team after the busy summer peak - in Dutch. But of course not everyone working in the Netherlands speaks Dutch, so with Speakap’s translation feature they could easily read it in their own language. 
• Head Office Pages: Local head office teams manage their own spaces, with posts tailored to office staff.
• Park Pages: Content creators vary per park - sometimes it’s managers, other times someone from the social team - but always people who know what’s most relevant locally.
• HR Pages: Owned by HR, focused on training, development, and other HR specific updates.
• Life at CP: A social, non-mandatory space where employees themselves bring the culture to life with day-to-day moments - whether it’s celebrating a colleague’s anniversary, sharing that a new baby goat was born, or just posting a great sunset. And if it’s not your thing, you can simply leave the group.

When distributing content creation ownership this way, Center Parcs ensured CP Inside wasn’t just a top-down tool. It became a living network where employees can find what matters and contribute themselves - and ultimately, a way to break down communication silos across the company.

The Results: 73% monthly user rate and a 34% interaction rate on their very own white-label employee app

We're especially extremely happy with the interaction rates... we can really see that people are starting to like, to comment, to watch videos, open files, all the things you can do within the platform.Simone van der Kar Internal Communication & Event Specialist at Center Parcs

Since its launch, CP Inside has delivered impressive results that underscore the success of the platform:

• User Adoption: More than 6,797 accounts have been activated. Notably, 93% of new hires activate their accounts within 24 hours, making it a crucial part of the onboarding process.
• Engagement: The platform has a 73% monthly user rate and a 34% interaction rate, indicating that employees are actively engaging with the content by liking, commenting, and watching videos.
• Content & Usage:
  
  • The average session length is 47 seconds, showing that employees prefer "short, snappy content" over long messages and 5 page PDF newsletters and instead prioritizing short, visual first updates like videos and infographics. 
  • The most popular login times are between 7:00 and 9:00 AM and 12:00 and 2:00 PM, suggesting employees are using the app to get information before their shifts or during their lunch breaks. Having these insights easily available via Workforce Analytics helps Center Parcs determine the best moments to publish updates.
• A total of 9.950 content pieces have been published across the network since June 2024. That doesn’t mean every employee sees all of them - updates are targeted to the right groups so people only get what’s relevant. The most engaging posts tend to be about anniversaries, new activities, or a new type of cottage, since those topics resonate deeply with employees.

6 tips every internal communicator should borrow from Center Parcs

Rolling out CP Inside taught Center Parcs a lot about what really drives adoption and engagement on an internal communications platform. Here are 6 lessons that every internal comms team can apply:

1. Boost participation, not just reach. It’s not enough for employees to see messages - you want them liking, commenting, and engaging.
2. Use dynamic content. Short, visual formats (think TikTok-style videos, behind-the-scenes clips, or quick Q&As) cut through the noise better than static updates.
3. Empower your content creators. Local managers and project leads can’t succeed without support - give them training, guidelines, and tools.
4. Build a network of ambassadors. Having champions in every location drives grassroots adoption and makes the platform feel owned by the people.
5. Make relevance your filter. Target updates to the right groups so employees get what matters to them, not a flood of information.
6. Encourage daily logins. The more CP Inside (or any platform) becomes part of the daily rhythm, the stronger the habit and culture.

For Center Parcs, these tips turned internal communication from nice to have into need to have. For other communicators, they’re a reminder that success isn’t about the number of tools you have - it’s about how you use them to create connection. And with Speakap, they’ve done exactly that - building a platform where every colleague feels informed, included, and part of the bigger story.

Internal communication isn’t a cost - it is a culture driver

Center Parcs turned internal comms from nice-to-have into need-to-have. Ready to show the same ROI?

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