Cancun has spent decades perfecting the art of leisure tourism, and with the debut of a slick convention center in the 1990s, it began fine-tuning facilities and services for the meetings and conventions market. Today, the destination is packed with service providers specifically geared toward groups, including savvy, creative DMCs such as the following two options.
Cancun Travel Advisors (CTA)
www.cancuncta.com
CTA prides itself on customized programs and paying attention to the smallest details, according to Valeria Serrano Suzán, general manager of the firm and vice president of the Mexican Caribbean chapter of SITE.
“Basically, we never say no,” Suzán says, adding that treating groups to the one-of-a-kind cultural experiences of the destination is a priority for the company. “We’re always creating new themed events.”
For a recent group of 200 people, CTA put together an agenda that included everything from a pirate fight aboard a boat while traveling to a nearby island for a pirate-themed celebration to a dinner in an historic hacienda featuring mariachis and a horsemen’s show, as well as a Mayan-themed show with Mayan dancers.
Suzán says one of the best ways to impress groups and instill an appreciation for the area’s rich Mayan heritage is by holding off-site events at places such as Chichen-Itza, where a private dinner can be arranged during the site’s nighttime sound and light show.
Tropical Incentives
www.tropicalincentives.com
Tropical Incentives has been arranging unique group programs for 22 years, and in addition to interesting options such as the “Caribbean Carnaval” celebration on nearby Isla Mujeres, complete with music, dancing and dinner, the company also differentiates itself with innovative new programs.
To that end, Tropical Incentives designed an Amazing Race-style event that teaches participants about the destination’s history and culture.
“We put teams in Jeeps, and the checkpoints are attractions such as important beaches or archaeological sites, where they have to answer questions about Mayan culture, for example, in order to proceed to the next checkpoint,” says Fun and Motivation Manager Edmundo Araujo. “It’s a great event because they really get to know the destination and they have fun doing it.”
Meanwhile, some of Tropical Incentives’ most distinctive programs are aimed at giving back to the community, according to Araujo, who points to the company’s Build a Bike program, in which a visiting group makes a bicycle as part of a team-building event and then presents the bicycle to a local child in need at a special ceremony.
