The Dominican Republic attracts leisure travelers with its alluring mix of sun, sand and all-inclusive resorts. But the region’s combination of well-equipped facilities and easily accessible natural beauty also makes it an ideal destination for planners looking to add some outdoor excitement to their meetings and incentives.
“I love the variety of the destination,” says Michael Scates, owner of Iguana Mama, a DMC based in Puerto Plata. “We’re on the coast, but within an hour you can be in the mountains. In the morning, you can be surfing and in the afternoon, you can be climbing mountains.”
Indeed, the nation’s meetings-friendly destinations, which include Santo Domingo, Punta Cana, La Romana and Puerto Plata, are all relatively close to dramatically beautiful natural settings that offer myriad options for activities, from water-based fun to excitement in the lush interior. Iguana Mama, for example, offers activities that can last one day or multiple days.
“[For groups], we usually do something relaxing one day, like catamaran sailing, then we do something more challenging that involves more teamwork, like canyoning,” Scates says.
Canyoning is just one example of an outdoor activity in the Dominican Republic that easily lends itself to teambuilding, according to Scates.
“We can create specific challenges for groups, or we can offer activities that naturally lead to people having to work as a group, like rappelling or white-water rafting,” he says.
“The Dominican Republic is great for groups because we are so much more than white, sandy beaches,” says Abrahan Garcia, group sales manager at Breathless Punta Cana Resort & Spa, which offers outdoor group activities through its partnerships with local tour companies. “We are a rich destination of warm and friendly people with an abundance of activities for everyone.”
The diversity of outdoor options makes the Dominican Republic a rewarding place for attendees, according to Ross Beatty, president of Beatty Group, a Beaverton, Ore.-based company that plans international meeting and incentive trips.
“The Dominican Republic is an ideal destination to include outdoor activities for groups because there is a wide variety of options available on both land and sea,” he says. “On land there are excursions that appeal to adrenaline junkies, such as ziplines and side-by-side dune buggies, as well as excursions that immerse participants in the local culture, such as the Bavaro Runners tour.
“On the sea, a group can do a buyout of the facilities at the Marinarium, where they can swim with stingrays, snorkel, sunbathe, kayak, stand-up paddleboard and eat and drink, all in the same location,” Beatty adds. “There are also catamaran cruises that are great for groups for snorkeling or sunset sails, in addition to deep-sea fishing and dolphin encounters. The beaches in front of the resorts are large and great for creating teambuilding activities, or teambuilding can be built into some of the excursions in the form of treasure hunts. And of course, the golf in the Dominican is world class.”
Hotels Make It Easy
The Dominican Republic’s many group-friendly hotels are experts at connecting groups with nature.
“Breathless Punta Cana Resort & Spa offers some great get-up-and-go activities that encourage exploration of the destination, from horseback riding to discovering the Punta Cana Ecological Reserve,” Garcia says. “And with increased airlift, getting to Punta Cana is easier than ever before.”
His all-inclusive hotel, which opened in 2013, also offers water-based activities such as parasailing, fishing, diving, snorkeling and kayaking, as well as helicopter rides and excursions to the Marinarium.
The staff at Eden Roc Cap Cana recommends a variety of outdoor activities for groups, including outings to Scape Park, a “natural theme park” where ziplining, horseback riding and adventure buggie rides are among the options for groups. Eden Roc Cap Cana also works with Gray Line to offer group activities like Mini Cooper convertible tours, Segway eco-tours and visits to Indigenous Eyes Ecological Park, a 1,500-acre private reserve where groups can swim in lagoons.
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“The Dominican Republic is such a diverse destination with a wide variety of activities that accommodate every client’s needs, [which] is what makes the country the ideal destination for [meetings, conventions and incentives],” says Paolo Sanavia, maitre de maison at Eden Roc Cap Cana.
The Dominican Republic continues to be a playground for “fun and sun” types of groups, according to John Ianini, vice president, meetings and events America at Paradisus Resorts, which has two properties in the Dominican Republic: Paradisus Palma Real and Paradisus Punta Cana.
“Most business sessions will wrap up before lunch to allow attendees to choose from a wide variety of outdoor activities, including golf, sailing or seaside spa treatments,” he says. “Many groups choose to use existing activities on property to form teambuilding events, such as rock climbing or beach Olympics. Often, the winners are awarded with local gifts, including handicrafts and coffee.”
As evidenced by the options at Breathless and Paradisus, the list of possibilities for on-site outdoor activities is extensive throughout the island. At Grand Palladium Punta Cana Resort & Spa, for example, groups can go cycling along eco-trails on the resort’s expansive grounds or take advantage of tennis courts, soccer fields, volleyball courts and basketball courts.
The ability to enjoy the great outdoors on-site is a big selling point for groups, according to Cecilia Caldevilla, director of sales, USA MICE at Palladium Hotel Group.
“Getting to unwind with your group after a long day of meetings is easy at Palladium, with eco-trails throughout the resort, a variety of fields and courts for sports and a professional staff that is eager to create a personalized trip,” she says.
Big Benefits
Outdoor activities can provide numerous benefits to meetings and incentives, especially in a destination as naturally beautiful and diverse as the Dominican Republic, according to Garcia.
“The groups and convention team at the hotel, in liaison with local DMCs, can help plan excursions and activities that can be transformed into competitive teambuilding events, which result in improving attendees trust and communication with one another,” he says. “Discovering a new interest and exploring a new country with your team members helps build trust with each other, which makes attendees more apt to look out for the well-being of each other and foster an atmosphere of collaboration. This mentality of ‘we are all in this together’ ultimately goes a long way to increasing productivity once you go back to a traditional work environment.”
Beatty concurs about the value of sending groups outdoors.
“Tours and activities add to the value of a meeting or conference, or in our case, an incentive trip, because it gives participants a chance to unwind and see more of the area, and provides them with meaningful memories that will be remembered long after the content of the meeting has been forgotten,” he says. “It also gives them a chance to bond and network with fellow participants in a more relaxed setting, creating deeper connections to their peers. Plus, if you fly people all the way to the Dominican Republic for a meeting and never let them outside the conference room, they might actually be resentful, feeling like they wasted an opportunity for fun in the sun.”
The Dominican Republic was the first Caribbean destination that New York City-based journalist mark chesnut visited in the Caribbean, and it remains one of his favorites.
