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| The San José Marriott
offers incentive trip travelers the peace and
quiet of a country retreat in the outskirts
of Costa Rica's capital city. |
| Courtesy Marriott Hotel |
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| US companies like Porsche
and General Motors have chosen Costa Rica as
their incentive trip destination. The Los Suenos
Marriott, above, provides visitors with resort
accommodations, with the beach and golf course
only steps away. |
| Courtesy Marriott Hotel |
It used to be considered sufficient for companies
to simply treat their best clients, and employees,
to a nice bottle of wine or a box of chocolates at
Christmas. In today’s world, where an ever-increasing
number of companies provide similar services, personal
relationships can often make the difference in keeping
the best clients and employees.
The best clients are still likely to receive their
bottle of wine, but these days the bottle, along with
a bouquet of flowers, is often placed on a table in
a hotel room in an exotic far-off location. Typically
the client or employee, along with a guest, will spend
a week at a resort, and then head home with a greater
sense of motivation and commitment. Thousands of US
companies offer this kind of prepaid package every
year. It’s proving to be one of those rare moments
when work is actually allowed to be - and supposed
to be - mixed with pleasure!
Mexico is no longer considered an exotic destination
to those companies that have been offering incentive
trips. Many firms are now exploring new places to
visit. Incentive travel in Costa Rica began to pick
up three years ago when Los Suenos Marriott Beach
& Golf Resort first opened. Today, incentive travelers
can chose between two Marriott destinations: one on
the Mid-Pacific coast and one in San José.
There is also the Melia Resort in the Guanacaste region
along the Pacific coast.
Karil Silman, director of accounts at the Costa Rica
Marriott Hotel in San José, and a Member of
the Board of Directors of the Costa Rican National
Association of Congresses and Incentives, explains
how the industry works. “We invite decision-makers
of incentive houses in the US to Costa Rica to see
what we, the Marriott, can offer. We want to give
them an alternative to Cancun. Our goal is that, when
their clients contact them the next time around and
ask what is new and trendy in the business, these
incentive houses will refer them to Costa Rica and
to us.”
According to Silman, Costa Rica has a competitive
advantage over Mexico and the Caribbean. Costa Rica
is not only a new destination, but it also offers
the unique opportunity to have “A glass of champagne
in the jungle.” Along with gorgeous, clean beaches
and state-of-the-art golf courses, Costa Rica offers
a streak of adventure. It is simply different. Where
else can travelers see and hear the rainforest through
their hotel windows while enjoying all the five-star
amenities that they could wish for?
Since opening three years ago, Los Suenos has managed
to increase the percentage of incentive travelers
to as high as 85% out of all its visitors. Last year
it accommodated approximately 35,000 incentive travelers,
and right now the Resort is working on reservations
for the year 2004, as 2003 is already fully booked.
Sometimes travelers combine a stay at Los Suenos with
another Marriott hotel, Costa Rica Marriott, and spend
three nights at the resort by the beach and three
nights in San José.
However, Los Suenos still is a long way ahead of its
sister hotel in the capital, because the concept of
incentive travel goes in hand with resort-types of
accommodations. “People still associate incentive
travel with the image of a resort on the beach and
a golf course. That is their expectation,” said
Silman. “Last year our hotel in San José
received more or less 10,000 incentive travelers,
mainly from the US, and even though we are seeing
steady growth, our main destination for this type
of travel is still our resort.”
Almost 80% of all incentive travelers at these two
Marriott’s originate in the US. They represent
insurance companies, associations, continuing education
groups, as well as large companies, such as Porsche,
General Motors, and Association of Lutherans. Most
of these groups comprise up to 300 travelers each.
Conducting business in this way can also become less
costly to companies and associations, as many continuing
education program providers have realized. Traditionally
their programs take place in the US, but now some
of the programs are going abroad, including Costa
Rica, as the tax deductibility makes them a more attractive
option.
Geographically speaking, most of the incentive travelers
come from the Mid-West, Atlanta and California. The
Washington, D.C. area has yet to be fully tapped.
According to Silman, Washington contains fewer incentive
houses than other US cities, even though the market
there has as much potential as anywhere else. This
means that companies or organizations in Washington
that are interested in incentive travel must often
contact incentive houses elsewhere, rather than locally.
This ends up requiring a greater research effort than
many people are willing to make.
However, Silman is happy to assist anyone, regardless
of where they reside. When considering incentive
travel, he encourages them to seek out alternative
destinations, especially the attractive offerings
of Costa Rica – A glass of champagne in the
jungle.
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