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Butlins (also Butlin's) is a chain of large holiday camps in the United Kingdom. Butlins was founded by Billy Butlin to provide affordable holidays for ordinary British families. Between 1936 and 1966, ten camps were built, including one in Ireland and one in the Bahamas. In the 1970s and 1980s, Butlins also operated numerous large hotels, including one in Spain, a number of smaller holiday parks in England and France, and a revolving restaurant in the Post Office Tower in London.〔(Summary of Butlins history on Butlins website ). Butlins (15 April 2011). Retrieved on 13 July 2011.〕 Tough competition from overseas package holiday operators, rising operational costs, and rapidly changing demand, forced many of the Butlins operations to close in the 1980s and 1990s. Three of the original camps remain open under the Butlins brand in Bognor Regis, Minehead, and Skegness. They are now owned and run by Butlins Skyline Ltd, a subsidiary company of Bourne Leisure Ltd, which also operates other leisure brands in the British Isles, including Warner Leisure Hotels and Haven Holidays. Butlins runs a variety of "family fun activities" and entertainments, many of which are included in the price of a holiday. Redcoats provide entertainment, organise activities, and act as hosts. ==History== Billy Butlin's inspiration for his holiday camp empire came from an unhappy holiday on Barry Island in his youth, when he had been locked out of his bed and breakfast accommodation all day by his landlady, which was normal practice at the time. The first of the Butlins holiday camps was opened by Billy Butlin in 1936 in Skegness, following his success in developing amusement parks. A second camp quickly followed in Clacton (1938), and construction Filey Holiday Camp began in 1939. With the outbreak of the Second World War, building at Filey was postponed, and the camps at Skegness and Clacton were given over for military use. Wartime use of Butlins camps continued, with resorts at Ayr, Filey, and Pwllheli being completed and opened as military camps. This camp was later renamed ''Wonderwest World'', and is now owned and run by Haven, part of Bourne Leisure, who own both brands. In 1945, with the war over, Filey was re-opened as a holiday camp. The camps at Skegness & Clacton opened in 1946, Ayr and Pwllheli in 1947 and Mosney on the east coast of Ireland in 1948. Butlins became popular in post-war Britain, with family entertainment and activities available for the equivalent of a week's pay. In 1948 Billy Butlin acquired two hotels in the Bahamas, and in the 1950s Butlins began opening hotels in England and Wales: Saltdean, Brighton (1953), Blackpool (1955) and five in Cliftonville (1955–1956). Further post-war camps were opened in the 1960s at Bognor Regis (1960), Minehead (1962) and Barry Island (1966). The camps at Ayr and Skegness also had separate self-contained hotels within their grounds. In later years, they were joined by further hotels in Scarborough (1978), Llandudno (1981), London (1993), a sixth hotel at Cliftonville and one in Spain (1983). In the 1960s and 1970s, the company also operated the ''Top of the Tower'' revolving restaurant at the then-named Post Office Tower in London. In 1968 Billy Butlin's son Bobby took over the management of Butlins, and in 1972 the business was sold to the Rank Organisation for £43 million. The number of camps peaked at ten between 1966 and 1980, but the business experienced the problems of the British seaside holiday industry in general, with the introduction of cheap package holidays to Mediterranean resorts from the 1960s onwards. It also had a specific image problem of being seen as providing regimented holidays, which caused it to all but abandon the Butlins name at its remaining resorts between 1987 and 1990. The camps at Clacton and Filey closed in 1983, and the camp at Barry was sold in 1986 (eventually closing in 1996). The lease on the ''Top of the Tower'' restaurant expired in 1980. In 1998 the camps at Ayr and Pwllheli were re-branded as Haven Park. All the Butlins hotels of the 1950s to 1990s were sold in 1998, but most are still open today under different ownership. The art deco style Ocean Hotel at Saltdean has been redeveloped into apartments, and the hotels at Cliftonville have both been demolished. In April 1998 the "Holiday Worlds" branding was dropped for the remaining resorts in favour of returning the emphasis to the core Butlins name. Subsequently in September 2000,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Rank says goodbye to redcoats in £700m sale - Business News - Business - The Independent )〕 the resorts and brand were sold to Bourne Leisure. A new Butlins logo was also introduced in mid-1998, which has subsequently undergone several modifications and was used until 2011, when Butlins introduced a design similar to their original logo. The new logo was originally supposed to be only used temporarily to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Butlins, but its use continued into 2012 and 2013 and is now the official logo. In 2005, the new £10 million Shoreline hotel was unveiled at the Bognor Regis resort to expand on the existing variety of apartments on the site. The hotel, styled with an Art Deco theme, aimed to offer luxury accommodation in conjunction with the entertainment and facilities at the resort. Each of the 160 rooms features floor-to-ceiling windows, twin or king-size beds, leatherette chairs, televisions, DVD players and en-suite facilities. Some have sea views. A second hotel, called "Ocean Hotel" opened at Bognor in 2009 styled to a high contemporary standard. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Butlins」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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