MEXICO EAST COAST

AMexico’s east coast seduces with natural beauty—and superb business infrastructureBy Christine Loomis

MEETING PLANNER PARADISE

A shore lined with sweeping arcs of alabaster sand set against soul-soothing blue-green waters—this is Mexico’s east coast, a photographer and sun wor-shiper’s paradise. Yet as mesmerizing as the beaches and sea are, they are only part of what the country o!ers, both in its remarkable physical elements and in its business environment.

"e best-known east coast destinations are Cancún and Riviera Maya, which share an airport but not a simpatico vibe: While Cancún is glitzy and full of late-night options, Riviera Maya is more serene with glimpses of au-thentic culture around its tourist attractions. "ey do, however, share a wel-coming attitude toward meetings business, and both o!er an infrastructure that makes bringing a meeting to Mexico easier than many planners believe.

Beyond the crown jewels of Cancún and Riviera Maya, Mexico’s east coast has a handful of other worthy destinations that support meetings, including incentives and options for corporate retreats. Cozumel, beloved by cruise ship passengers, is worth consideration for smaller groups. Mérida, capital

of the state of Yucatán, melds historic and contem-porary cultures and o!ers a surprising number of options for groups. Up the coast, Veracruz is poised to be noticed by North American organizations.

Lively Cancún embraces its hot-spot status with a string of high-rise hotels, nightclubs, trendy restau-rants and spendy boutiques guaranteed to appeal to jet-setters and others who seek “the scene” wherever they go. Not that its beaches disappoint. Far from it. "e appeal of Cancún is that its high-energy ac-tion is complemented by compelling natural attri-butes, including a gorgeous stretch of sun-saturated sand and lapping waters that beg to be #oated on. "e compact hotel zone is a narrow spit between the Caribbean Sea and Nichupté Lagoon, an island connected to the mainland on each end by bridges. Public transportation is readily available for those who want to explore less touristy parts of the city.

Cancún does not disappoint when it comes to meetings, either. Fernando Cervantes, groups and conventions director for the Cancún Convention & Visitors Bureau, says there are $ve main reasons Cancún is ideal for U.S. and Canadian groups:

• Connectivity: Having Mexico’s No. 1 airport for international arrivals means that all the major airlines !y into Cancún with great frequency.

• Infrastructure: With over 1 million sq. ft. of meeting space and more than 34,000 hotel rooms, Cancún can easily accommodate any size meeting and exhibition.

• Added value: International meetings that take place in Cancún do not pay the value added tax, so up front, planners and attendees save 11%.

• Activities: Cancún has 13 golf courses, archaeol-ogy sites, water sports, eco parks, CSR options—and that’s just part of what the area has to o"er.

• Safety: Cancún is a very safe destination. Cervantes adds that Cancún’s attention to detail

and service are comparable to anywhere, proven in the CVB’s strategy of partnership with plan-ners. “"e way we do it is that the Cancún CVB becomes your partner in the destination to help you plan your meeting or conference,” he says. “We will take care of your RFP, set up your site inspection and provide you with teasers, promo-tional material and discount cards. It is important to us to provide support at every step of the event or conference.”

MAJOR MEETING VENUESIn total, Cancún o!ers more than 700,000 sq. ft. of meeting space and more than 200,000 sq. ft. of exhibition space between the Cancún Center and 25 properties in close proximity. "e Cancún Center itself has 75,500 sq. ft. of meeting space and 78,500 sq. ft. of exhibition space; more than 3,500 hotel rooms are within walking distance. Cancúnmesse, located between Cancún and Playa del Carmen, has the largest trade fair grounds in Latin America and o!ers 271,412 sq. ft. of indoor

exhibition space, plus an outdoor area of 107,639 sq. ft. Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort, outside the main hotel area but just four miles from the air-port, has 2,457 rooms and more than 120,000 sq. ft. of space across 123 acres. Its Universal Ballroom can accommodate up to 5,000 attendees, while the elegant Galactic Ballroom has room for up to 3,600 guests. "ere are 40 breakout room options, and when meetings are over, attendees can take advan-tage of seven pools, 13 restaurants, a lavish spa and the Nicklaus-designed golf course. Moon Palace is a good option for conferences with a family compo-nent as it has a kids’ club for ages four to 12.

Iberostar Cancún Hotel, formerly the Hil-ton, is a Four-Diamond property with a spa and golf course. Its Peninsula Convention Center, the only one in the area on the beach, has 49,000 sq. ft. indoors, 60,000 sq. ft. outdoors and 22 func-tion rooms. It can accommodate up to 2,500 and o!ers in-house A/V services. Fiesta Americana Grand Coral Beach Cancún Resort & Spa show-cases a Latin chic ambience in its 602 rooms and more than 85,000 sq. ft. of space, including the 15,000-square-foot Grand Coral Ballroom. "e resort’s conference experts make life easy for plan-ners with ready-to-go theme nights. !e Royal Cancún, a Real resort, is an all-suite hotel with 288 spacious suites, the most compelling being the swim-up master suites (if they don’t help attendees relax and get a new perspective on business, noth-ing will). "e Royal has 6,888 sq. ft. of space for up to 700 attendees, including a VIP boardroom for up to 25. It is adults-only, but the Gran Caribe Real Resort is next door for attendees who bring family along.

!e Ritz-Carlton, Cancun has 365 guest

MEXICO EAST COAST

rooms plus 27,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, in-cluding the 11,175-square-foot Ritz-Carlton Ball-room. A conference concierge and !e Ritz-Carl-ton’s famed Technology Butler Services ensure that meetings run smoothly. !e onsite Viking Culinary Center o"ers options for creative team building with its Extreme Chef program, during which teams of attendees face o" in a timed cook-ing battle in the oceanfront Viking Kitchen. !e Five-Star Omni Cancun Hotel & Villas has 343 rooms and 12,500 sq. ft. of #exible space. One option planners should consider: three-bedroom villas of 2,000 sq. ft. that can serve as executive quarters as well as meeting space for VIPs and event space for small functions.

South of Cancún, Riviera Maya’s exact starting point is as fuzzy as the horizon after a couple of margaritas. Most agree it begins near Puerto More-los and stretches 80 miles down the coast, encom-passing sweet beaches as well as one of Mexico’s most photo-worthy Mayan ruins, Tulum, perched on cli"s above the turquoise sea. It also includes Coba, an archaeological site deep in the jungle, where attendees can bond climbing the 120 stun-ningly steep steps to the top of Nohoch Mul, Co-ba’s impressive pyramid. Riviera Maya’s best-known city is Playa del Carmen, infused with a touch of Cancún’s glam yet visibly rooted in authentic heri-tage. Fun central is Playa’s Fifth Avenue, lined with

shops, restaurants, bars and a few boutique hotels; co"ee and cocoa lovers should grab a table at Ah Cacao for stellar lattes or hot chocolate and the best people-watching in Playa. A couple of blocks o" Fifth, you can catch the ferry to Cozumel.

!ere’s no love lost between Cancún and Riviera Maya in terms of vying for visitors, but in some respects they appeal to a di"erent travelers. Still, Carlos Mora Vera, meetings manager for Riviera Maya, is clear in his goals. “We are working hard to position the Riviera Maya as the main meeting des-tination in Mexico…and one of the top 20 players in the world.” Mora Vera says the time is now right. “We have over 600,000 sq. ft., a capacity of more than 40,000 people and over 50 hotels with meet-ing space to accommodate large groups, incentive tours and pre- and post-convention activities.”

Mora Vera believes the Riviera Maya is perfect-ly positioned to reach its goal of becoming a top meeting destination. “!e wide range of available

meeting space and attractions combined with a rich cultural heritage in a spacious, exotic setting sets the Riviera Maya apart from other destinations,” he says. “!e world-class infrastructure provides meet-ing planners with multiple venues, resorts, golf courses and activity options, and with easy access to a multitude of direct #ights to and from many international gateways.”

!e statistics bear out the appeal of the destina-

tion. In 2010, 100,000 attendees arrived from the United States for corporate and association meet-ings, while another 75,000 came for incentive pro-grams. And the Riviera Maya Destination Market-ing O$ce is doing more to attract greater numbers. An innovative and useful online tool for planners is slated to launch in January during the 2012 PCMA annual meeting in San Diego, so stay tuned.

MAJOR MEETING VENUES !e Five-Diamond Grand Velas All Suites & Spa Resort Riviera Maya has its own 1,000-foot beach %ve minutes from downtown Playa del Carmen, along with 491 guest rooms and 91,547 sq. ft. of meeting space. !e largest spaces accommodate up to 3,000 attendees. Riviera Maya Aventura Spa Palace Resort is adults-only with 777 rooms and 55,000 sq. ft. of #exible space. Its meeting rooms celebrate the Yucatán’s spiritual side, with names like Soul, Spirit and Mind (25,000, 9,000

and 6,000 sq. ft., respectively) and its spa o"ers a Mayan Temazcal experience. Last May, Aventura hosted 48 attendees for the MPI Certi%cation in Meetings Management event, and it was a great success. “!e sta" could not have been more pro-fessional or attentive while we were there. Our convention service manager was there every day from the start of the program to the end,” says MPI Meeting Manager Meaghan Ferrazza.

“We are working hard to position the Riviera Maya as the main meeting destination in Mexico…and one of the top 20 players in the world.”Carlos Mora Vera, Riviera Maya Destination Marketing Office

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MEXICO EAST COAST

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Barcelo Maya Palace Deluxe has 756 rooms and an onsite convention center accommodating groups of up to 2,000. Set between Playa del Car-men and Tulum, it has a Mayan-in!uenced spa that makes leaving di"cult.

North of Playa, exclusive Mayakoba is home to the Fairmont Mayakoba, Banyan Tree Mayakoba and Rosewood Mayakoba. #e Fairmont, with 26,495 sq. ft. of meeting space plus 8,000 sq. ft. outdoors, has 401 guest rooms on 45 lushly land-scaped acres to accommodate groups.

Decidedly more low key is Puerto Morelos, a small village where locals and tourists mingle. For incentive and corporate groups wanting a boutique property there’s the 88-room Ceiba del Mar Beach & Spa Resort, where luxury and Mayan culture blend seamlessly. Event space in-cludes ballrooms of 1,049 and 1,722 sq. ft. and the ultimate sunset spot, the 2,098-square-foot Palapa Pier. Nearby, Now Jade Riviera Cancun has 550 suites and a 10,710-square-foot ballroom in a sublime setting where service and serenity are perfectly paired.

In July, the Riú Playacar Convention Center

opened to support Riú’s six hotels with a combined 2,700 rooms in Playa del Carmen, adding 8,070 sq. ft. of meeting space to the area.

Riviera Maya also entices groups to meet, play, team build, embrace local culture and even relax at three of its top attractions, eco-parks Xel-ha, Xcaret and Xplor. Xcaret’s facilities, for example, include dining areas for up to 600 and a theater accommodating up to 1,600.

A short ferry ride from Playa del Carmen, Cozu-mel is a destination for groups as well as a daytrip option for those based on the mainland. Groups can explore by four-wheel-drive Jeep, visit small Mayan ruins, sun on exquisite beaches and shop in San Miguel, the island’s only town. Chankanaab National Park is the star attraction, a place where groups can snorkel, see a variety of cultural and

wildlife shows, eat beachside, explore a recreated Mayan village and see enough iguanas in every color to !ll a photo album. Presidente InterCon-tinental Cozumel Resort Spa is one of the only hotels on the island where you can snorkel right from shore. In addition to 220 guest rooms, the hotel has three meeting rooms totaling 4,341 sq. ft.

Mérida is one of the oldest cities in the Americas. It is the capital of the state of Yucatán and is its cul-tural epicenter, rich in history yet with contempo-rary "air. #e historic center, lined with centuries-old buildings, is Mexico’s second largest, and two of the country’s most important archaeological ruins, Chichén-Itzá and Uxmal, are an easy drive away.

MAJOR MEETING VENUES#e Yucatán Siglo XXI Convention and Exhi-bition Center hosts international events in its 904,000-plus sq. ft. In the city center, Hyatt Re-gency Mérida has 289 guest rooms and 10 meeting rooms, including a ballroom accommodating up to 650. #e 127-room InterContinental Presidente Mérida, once a stately mansion, has 5,204 sq. ft. of meeting space. Few boutique properties can com-pare with Hacienda Xcanatun, 20 minutes from the airport yet in many respects centuries away. Once one of the largest of Yucatán haciendas, Xca-natun was restored to its 18th-century splendor by owners Jorge Ruz and Cristina Baker. Baker serves as the onsite destination management counselor and has worked closely with the groups who have met there.

“We have hosted corporate or incentive meetings for Ikea, Ford, Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola and Bimbo, the largest bread-making company in the world,” she says. “President Calderon’s dinner with George

Bush was at Hacienda Xcanatun, and this year Pres-ident Calderon hosted a dinner for the president of Colombia here.”

Baker takes a highly personal approach to meet-ings, with one group scheduled at a time. #e haci-enda’s 18 rooms accommodate up to 36, the same number the table in the renovated chapel-turned-meeting-center can seat. “We provide customiza-tion and personalization in a tranquil garden set-ting 10 minutes from downtown Mérida,” Baker says. Attendees often share a group “Maya Cleans-ing” to “put everyone in the best frame of mind for working together,” Baker adds. Doña Carolina, the hotel’s head Mayan therapist, was trained by her shaman grandfather and uses rituals passed down through the centuries from her ancestors to create pampering treatments for guests—always a high-light for groups. Sometimes Baker partners with a hotel to host larger groups. Attendees sleep at the partner hotel but come to Xcanatun for evening activities and dinner in the garden, and spouses of-ten spend the day at the hacienda for activities, ex-cursions and lunch. With such personal attention, planners can customize their group’s experience with Baker’s expert help.

Veracruz celebrates a rich blend of cultures—indig-enous Mexican, Spanish, African and Caribbean—apparent in its people, music and food. #e heart of the city on the Gulf of Mexico is the tree-!lled zocalo, where residents and tourists gather late into the night in a festive spirit, and there is almost al-ways dancing in the evenings. Although Veracruz lacks the tourism cachet of better-known destina-tions, the city is actively promoting tourism.

MAJOR MEETING VENUESA member of the Preferred Hotels group, Emporio Veracruz has 223 rooms out!tted with "at-screen TVs and iPod docking stations. Five function rooms and three conference rooms host groups of up to 550. Crowne Plaza Veracruz Torremar, along the beach, has 229 rooms and more than 1,000 sq. ft. of "exible event space for groups of up to 600.

Mexico is clearly an enticing meetings destina-tion. It o$ers state-of-the-art facilities in many of its venues as well as a rich cultural experience for attendees. Luxury boutique hotels host high-end corporate retreats and incentive groups, while ex-pansive multinational resorts accommodate groups of any size and provide a wealth of recreational op-portunities. #e friendliness of the Mexican people and the intense beauty of the country’s natural landscapes, plus the fact that so many locals speak English, are among the reasons to consider Mexico for your next meeting.

about properties, venues and attractions on Mexico’s East Coast, visit smartmeet-ings.com/business-destinations.

MEXICO EAST COAST