Prime Incentive Properties in Los Cabos and the Mexican Caribbean

May 25, 2021

Sarah Kloepple

JW Marriott Cancun Resort & Spa. Credit: Quintana Roo Tourism Promotion Council

Coastal Mexico is synonymous with R&R, and its bevy of luxury properties make it an ideal region for hosting impressive, wow-worthy incentive programs. From those famous arches in Los Cabos to the sparking turquoise waters of the Mexican Caribbean, the country’s coastal cities, with their wide variety of amenities and excursion opportunities, are sure to please all types of attendees.

“The strong point of Los Cabos is the variety we offer,” said Los Cabos Tourism Board Managing Director Rodrigo Esponda. “Los Cabos means the capes, and we have several areas that are completely different. It’s important to know what type of experience the group would be looking for.”

Esponda’s tourism promotion counterpart in the state of Quintana Roo, home to the popular leisure and meetings destination of Cancun, concurs.

“Mexican Caribbean features some of the most luxurious hotels in the Americas; some of them offer large meeting facilities,” said Dario Flota, CEO for the Quintana Roo Tourism Board. “This is why our destinations have been chosen to host some of the most important national and international events.”

Below we highlight what exactly Los Cabos and the Mexican Caribbean regions offer, including prime luxury properties for hosting incentive programs.

Los Cabos

Located in the deep south of the Baja California Peninsula, Los Cabos offers a variety of landscapes from desert to sea. And luxury development is booming. Esponda estimated that eight luxury hotels have opened in Los Cabos in the last two years, and more are on the way.

Debuting in Cabo San Lucas in 2019, the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal, formerly known as the Resort at Pedregal, is a Forbes Five-Star resort and spa that’s carved into the side of a mountain—guests even enter through the private Dos Mares tunnel to access the property. Its meeting and event venues, some overlooking the Pacific Ocean, can host up to 200 people.

For something more non-traditional, Los Cabos is also home to a variety of villas from Lifestyle Los Cabos that have previously been rented out for corporate retreats and other groups. Because the villas are near or even next door to each other, groups can form a bubble and enjoy the various experiences around the properties. For example, Punta Ballena Villas offer more than two miles of walking paths, private tennis courts, pools and hot tubs with prime views and an exclusive resident’s only beach club.

Mexican Caribbean

It’s no secret that the Mexican Caribbean is a tourist hot spot. Cancun International Airport, after all, is the second most important airport in Mexico, according to the Quintana Roo Tourism Promotion Council. (In 2019, it welcomed 25 million passengers.)

But no matter the destination in this region of Coastal Mexico, visitors are sure to be awed by the turquoise sea, white-sand beaches, archeological sites, underwater caverns and Mayan culture and history—just to name a few attractions.

“The Mexican Caribbean has become a very popular destination among the incentive travel market due to the wide variety of attractions we have to offer to our visitors,” Flota said. “All of these can be tailor-made.”

Cancun

Cancun is undoubtedly one of the most popular destinations throughout Coastal Mexico, especially among MICE travelers due to its state-of-the-art meeting facilities, five-star hotels, easy air accessibility and top-quality F&B.

Hotel options might seem limitless, but for plenty of luxury amenities and meeting infrastructure right on the coast, planners can look to NIZUC Resort & Spa, the flagship property of Mexico City-based Las Brisas Hotel Collection’s elite luxury resort line. NIZUC is located on a serene 29 acres and offers more than 200 luxurious suites and private villas. Venues include the Sian Ka’an Ballroom, with panoramic ocean views and floor-to-ceiling windows within its 5,760 square feet, and the oceanfront A-Kan Terrace, featuring a beautiful Amate tree.

The Ritz-Carlton Cancun is another property with a wide variety of both event space and amenities for groups. It boasts a 27,000-square-foot conference center and a beachfront venue for up to 700 guests. There’s also the JW Marriott Cancun Resort & Spa, offering eight event rooms and 20,236 total square feet of event space, as well as plenty of opportunities for gorgeous outdoor setups.

Cozumel

The biggest island in the Mexican Caribbean, Cozumel is widely known for its superior scuba-diving opportunities. The area offers 14 hotels and resorts, totaling 2,437 rooms, that feature a variety of modern facilities with conference and meeting rooms for events.

Those looking to bring an incentive program to Cozumel can tap the InterContinental Presidente Cozumel Resort & Spa, a luxury property perched in front of the Cozumel Reef Marine Park, one of the top reef systems in the world. The hotel features four indoor meeting rooms, some of which can host up to 350 people. Outdoor spaces such as gardens and designated areas off the beach are also at a planner’s disposal for cocktail hours and private dinners.

Located near the Cozumel Convention Center, Cozumel Palace describes its property as “awe-inclusive,” and is an ideal spot for teambuilding needs, if that’s something a planner wants to include in their incentive program. Attendees can snorkel right in front of the resort or partake in dive expeditions that leave directly from the resort. The property also offers six outdoor meeting spaces so attendees can take in those beautiful views of the Caribbean Sea.

Riviera Maya

According to the Quintana Roo Tourism Board, Riviera Maya offers “the most sophisticated services” for the MICE industry and is ideal for hosting large national and international events. Stretching across Playa del Carmen and Tulum, the region also offers attractions for teambuilding and exploring.

One popular property for incentives is the Hard Rock Riviera Maya, which offers more than 1,200 rooms and a whopping 33 venues for meetings and events, 26 of them located outdoors—totaling more than 92,000 square feet of usable space.

Along with opportunities to explore archeological sites like Tulum and Coba, Riviera Maya can also offer groups nightlife entertainment, social responsibility programs in local communities, seven different golf courses, fine dining and a plethora of nature and water activities.

Planner should also keep tabs on Fairmont Mayakoba Riviera Maya, which began a highly anticipated renovation this February, set for completion in September 2022. To minimize impact, the hotel organized certain sections of its nearly 100 acres to close on specific dates. Enhancements will include refreshed lobbies, a new beach club and a seasonal food market at La Isla Lawn.