Incentive - December 2007 - (Page 71)

TRAVEL MEXICO choice locations used by incentive planners announcement piece, in all the follow-up mailers,” include the Fiesta Americana, CasaMagna Marsays Dave Elash, director of national accounts for riott Puerto Vallarta Resort & Spa and Westin full-service incentive house USMotivation. “We Resort & Spa Puerto Vallarta. Fiesta Americana actually go to Mexico and look for things that we has the advantage of being located right near the can use, that we can buy locally, and we do room city’s famous downtown area, bustling with shops gifts probably every night or every other night.” and restaurants. Folk art, like finger paintings on terra-cotta tiles, The natural habitat of Puerto Vallarta offers a or handcrafted baskets, make for excellent pillow great setting for a variety of outdoor activities. gifts. To enhance an evening, planners may have Horseback riding on the artists demonstrate their trails of the Sierra craft. While the trip parMadre, scuba diving in ticipants watch, a local the clear waters of Banartist can create a piece, deras Bay, and treks which the guests will then through the local find waiting in their room streams in an ATV can that night. be arranged by DMCs The developing area of like Tropical Incentives Punta Mita, 30 to 45 and Destination Mexico. minutes north of Puerto For a really unusual Vallarta, is also drawing experience with the local more interest in the area environment, participants as an incentive destinacan swim with dolphins tion. Offering a feeling of at the Sea Life Park or (if The lush getaway of Punta Mita is a refuge from the bustle of Puerto Vallarta refuge, set near the beach, planning a trip around November) watch the sea it doesn’t have the variety of options for activities turtles hatching in the nearby preserve. More adventhat Puerto Vallarta does, but it certainly has the turous travelers have the option to take motor coachscenery. The Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita has es into the nearby rainforest and jump across the been the top hotel option for incentive planners. lush green treetops on a zipline canopy tour. Speak“[The Four Seasons] is beautiful, it’s on this cliff ing of lush green, there are also two popular golf overlooking the ocean and more secluded, but it still courses, Vista Vallarta, with a Jack Nicklaus course, has the Four Seasons name and experience,” says and Marina Vallarta, with a Tom Weiskopf course. Adams. “When you drive out to Punta Mita, you feel Despite its role as a tourist mainstay, Puerto Vallike you’re leaving a lot of things behind.” larta has a clear sense of history and culture and Enclosed in a gated area, it can offer the sense that “authenticity” that can be so elusive for many of exclusivity many incentive travelers enjoy, but tourist spots. Described by some as the “most Mexthat’s harder to find in the more free-flowing ican” of all Mexico’s beach destinations, the area is Puerto Vallarta. With a golf course, and new resrich in tradition and folklore, aspects of which can idential and hotel properties being built, Punta be effectively incorporated into the incentive trip to Mita is becoming a place to watch in the area. make for a more memorable experience. “It’s very high-end, very exclusive,” says Elash, “We try to incorporate the look and feel and “and I think it’s really going to be the place to go culture of the program in the theme, in the up there.” incentivemag.com Planner Resources Grand Velas All Suites & Spa Resort www.grandvelas.com (972) 355-8325 Fiesta Americana Puerto Vallarta www.fiestaamericana.com (800) 343-7821 CasaMagna Marriott Puerto Vallarta www.marriott.com (800) 831-4004 Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita www.fourseasons.com/puntamita/ (800) 819-5053 Westin Resort & Spa Puerto Vallarta www.starwoodhotels.com/westin +52 (322) 226-1100 Puerto Vallarta CVB & Tourism Board www.visitpuertovallarta.com (888) 384-6822 Vallarta DMC www.dmcvallarta.com +52 (322) 221-2164 Destination Mexico www.destination-mexico.com +52 (777) 316-4622 Tropical Incentives DMC www.tropicalincentives.com /puerto-vallarta.php +52 (998) 884-4826 | December 2007 | Incentive | 71 http://www.grandvelas.com http://www.fiestaamericana.com http://www.marriott.com http://www.fourseasons.com/puntamita/ http://www.starwoodhotels.com/westin http://www.visitpuertovallarta.com http://www.dmcvallarta.com http://www.destination-mexico.com http://www.tropicalincentives.com/puerto-vallarta.php http://incentivemag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Incentive - December 2007

Incentive - December 2007 Contents Editor’s Note: Revved Up In the News Cover Story: Rolls-Royce Empowers Its Own Case Study: Booz Allen Hamilton Beating Your Best Incentive Primer: Add Value to Your Event Keeping Safety In Mind Incentive Interview Potentials Here and Now Research: Corporate Gifts Facts Report Tabletop Awards: Travel Gift Cards Travel News Viva Puerto Vallarta Indigenous Spas Advertiser Index Off the Cuff: Ambassador Christoph Bubb Luxury Brands Special Supplement

Incentive - December 2007

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