Alp Buğdaycı (born 21 July 1964 Diyarbakır, died 12 June 2016 Istanbul) is a Turkish businessman, newscaster, and voice artist.
Between 1982-1988, he started his career as a reporter for various newspapers and news agencies in Bâb-ı Âli. In 1990, he made a news announcer on Turkey's first private television channel, Star 1 (Magic Box). In 1991, he passed on Show TV and and was on the morning show called "Hello to the Sun".
Piet Derksen
Piet Derksen (1913, Rotterdam - 24 February 1996, Westerhoven) was a Dutch businessman who founded Center Parcs. He was also a philanthropist. He donated all his fortune to charity.
Piet's father thought he was reading too much, so he said to his son that he should go and play tennis. Pieter listened to the advice of his father, but he was more interested in making money from tennis. He borrowed money from his family and built a tennis court near Kralingen in Holland with it.
Later on, Pieter had the idea to sell his tennis course and start a sport store. It was called "Sporthuis-centrum" which means "Sporthouse-centre". He bought a tent factory in North Brabant. At the time, lots of people wanted bigger, better tents. Pieter decided to rent out tents on a piece of land he bought near Reuver. This was a great success, so the tents were replaced with bungalows. In 1978 Pieter decided to sell his sports stores - he did this so he could concentrate on "Sporthuis Centrum". He built a house for himself on the Center Parcs site "De Kempervennen" near Eindhoven. He did this so he could see his company working and be close to his customers.
Westerhoven
Westerhoven is a village in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It is in the municipality of Bergeijk. It is about 15 km southwest of Eindhoven.
Westerhoven is in a valley between the rivers 'Keersop' and 'Beekloop'. The rivers both flow just outside the middle of the village. There is evidence that prehistoric people lived in the area. The hill connecting to the nearby village Riethoven is from the Roman times. Frankish ceramics were found when some people removed an old oak shore. Westerhoven used to be part of the ‘heerlijkheid’ Bergeyk but became separated from it in 1810. Westerhoven became part of Bergeijk in 1997.
Kempenlands (an East Brabantian kind of language, which is similar to normal Dutch) is spoken in the area.
Qatar Foundation
Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development is an NPO organization based in Qatar, founded by former Emir of Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and his second wife Moza bint Nasser in 1995.
The President of the Qatar Foundation is shaikha Moza bint Nasser. In February 2016, her daughter Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, the sister of the current Emir of Qatar, is appointed CEO of the foundation.
Qatar Foundation has created a campus, Education City, which houses branches of reputable American universities. To link these universities to industry, and has established the Qatar Science and Technology Park to host technology and innovation-based companies.
On December 10, 2010, FC Barcelona announced that it has signed a five-year, 150 million euro contract with the Qatar Foundation.
Center Parcs
Center Parcs is a group of holiday villages in Europe that was founded in the Netherlands in 1968. It is now two different companies: Center Parcs Europe (CPE), which is run by Pierre & Vacances on mainland European sites owned by Blackstone Group and Center Parcs UK which runs holiday villages in Great Britain and Ireland and is owned by the Brookfield Properties Corporation.
A Dutch businessman, Piet Derksen, started a sport items shop in 1953 at Lijnbaan, Rotterdam. Its name was 'Sporthuis Centrum', which means 'Sport House Centre'. It succeeded and Derksen made 17 more shops in the Netherlands. He then added things used for camping to the range.
In 1968, Derksen bought some woodland near Reuver so that his staff and customers could relax in small tents. The park, De Lommerbergen, worked well so the tents were replaced with bungalows. In 1987, Center Parcs opened its first UK resort at Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire. The brewer Scottish and Newcastle liked the idea - they would buy Center Parcs UK.
In 2001, Scottish and Newcastle sold the Center Parcs UK to venture capitalists Mid Ocean. In December 2003 they sold the UK resorts to Arbor for £285 million. After it was put on the London Stock Exchange in May 2006, Center Parcs UK Group PLC was sold to Blackstone Group. It was changed into a private company. The chief executive Martin Dalby said that the company might make a fifth village. In 2004 it the company said it would be built near Woburn in Bedfordshire. They were not allowed to build it, but later they were allowed to.
Center Parcs in Whinfell Forest was built and run by the Rank Organisation, the only people who had the same service as Center Parcs in the UK. After a few years it was sold to Center Parcs. Whinfell Forest is not built in the same way as other Center Parcs places there are some design differences including the exterior look of the lodges and the Subtropical Swimming Paradise (which is the pools complex) which has been likened to a butterfly shape.
Break prices include accommodation, unlimited use of the Subtropical Swimming Paradise and playgrounds. Meals, bike hire and activities are additional costs.
In July 2016, Center Parcs was allowed by An Bord Pleanála (the Irish group which decides who can build things) to build the first Center Parcs in Ireland. The 395-acre resort will be built in Newcastle Wood, a forest near Ballymahon, County Longford. This is in the Republic of Ireland. The resort will be called 'Longford Forest' and will open in the summer of 2019.
In 2003, Scottish & Newcastle sold the sites on the main part of Europe to Pierre & Vacances (P&V) and DBCP, a German investment group. This was called Center Parcs Europe (CPE). P&V owned a big bungalow-holiday-maker, Gran Dorado Resorts, a Dutch company.
CPE was in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch government did not like the idea of combining Gran Dorado and Center Parcs, because it would be too big. After agreeing to get rid of some beds, CPE sold all but six Gran Dorado Resorts to Landal GreenParks. Six parks were added to CenterParcs: Loohorst (NL), Port Zelande (NL), Zandvoort (NL), Weerterbergen (NL), Hochsauerland (D) and Heilbachsee (D).
In 2006, after the Blackstone Group bought Center Parcs UK plc, Pierre & Vacances said they would sell all of the CPE sites, if they could still run them. In January 2009, Sunparks was made as well as a Center Parcs in Europe, as a version which did not cost as much.
There are now 26 resorts in the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Germany and the UK. None of the villages are the same. Visitors stay in lodges or bungalows, with trees and bushes around them. Park Zandvoort is different - it is in sand dunes. Some resorts have hotel rooms. The first village had swimming pool, shops and restaurants. A dome was made in 1980. It is called Subtropical Swimming Paradise in the UK. It has a swimming pool in it and other water play areas and pools. It is called 'Aqua Mundo' in Europe. Visitors can do lots of things, like go to restaurants, do activities, visit the spas, and go cycling.
Center Parcs UK and Center Parcs Europe has of 26 resorts and 4 Sunparks. There are six new parks being made.
Three Center Parcs sites were sold because they could not be made bigger. They are now part of Landal Greenparks. They are still used:
These things have different names in Europe and the UK:
Center Parcs UK
Center Parcs UK is a company which sells short breaks in five holiday villages in the United Kingdom. Each is about of woodland. The company's first village opened at Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, in 1987. Its fifth, at Woburn Forest, Bedfordshire, opened in 2014.
Another company runs in the main part of Europe. It is also called Center Parcs, but the two companies are separate. Center Parcs UK became 30 years old in 2017.