Foodies traveling to Cancun this week may want to check out Wine & Food Festival Cancun – Riviera Maya 2017. Taking place March 15-19, it’s a great way to sample the wares of some of Mexico’s top chefs and sommeliers.
Events include a “Best of Mexico Dinner” with Jorge Vallejo from the acclaimed Quintonil in Mexico City. Also on the menu: a “Gourmet Taco Competition with Mexico Star Chefs;” “Rock & Roast: Texas Meets Mexico” barbecue event, plus a golf tournament.
Venues for the Wine & Food Festival include Hyatt Ziva Cancun, Secrets the Vine Cancun, Secrets Maroma Beach Riviera Cancun, Zoetry Villa Rolandi Isla Mujeres, Hard Rock Hotel Cancun and Breathless Rivera Cancun Resort & Spa.
Other resorts are in the news as well.
The Grand at Moon Palace water park
The Grand at Moon Palace Cancun is set to debut this week. Located on the Moon Palace Cancun grounds, it’s a separate, newly-built property.
“Moon Palace has always been our workhorse and our flagship. It’s the barometer that sets the tone of the marketplace,” Frank Corzo, vice president of U.S. field sales for Palace Resorts, tells Travel Agent.
The Grand is making a play for the luxury family market.
New amenities include an elaborate water park with its own lazy river, plus a high-tech bowling lounge.
Of course, dining is increasingly important for every market segment.
“We’ve elevated the dining experience because it’s such an important part of the vacation experience today. In addition to authentic Mexican cuisine, we’ll have Asian, Lebanese, Peruvian, Italian and more at The Grand. We’ve also partnered with Certified Angus Beef across all our brands. That’s not only in the fine dining restaurants, you’ll see it in our beach grills,” said Corzo.
Guests staying at The Grand can dine at the Moon Palace restaurants. Guests staying at the Sunrise or Nizuc sections of Moon Palace can purchase a day or evening pass to The Grand. The passes can be purchased with the Palace Resort $1500 resort credit (available for stays of 5-8 days).
Bookings for 2017 are going very well, for which Corzo gives a well-deserved shout out to agents. Palace Resorts is already well-known for its investments in online training. In the works are an automated promotional tool that agents can use to send out messages on social media. And a new affiliate agency program will provide agents with their own co-branded Palace Resorts website.
New to the wedding certification program is an option for one-on-one meetings with the wedding team in Mexico.
“It allows agents to get to know the back-end operational elements that a consumer would not necessarily know about. It allows them to be more useful to the client,” said Corzo.
Additionally, a new lead generation program will list certified wedding agents on the consumer-facing wedding site. Other agent initiatives include a Sneak Peek program that will provide advance notice of incentives and promotions. And there’s also a new chat line feature available for agents.
We’re super excited about a couple other projects in the pipeline. We’ll be making those announcements in the coming weeks,” said Corzo.
Grand Oasis Tulum spa
Oasis Hotels & Resorts is making some announcements of its own.
Namely, the debut of new kid-friendly features and a “Kid’s Stay Free” offer at Grand Oasis Tulum and Oasis Tulum Lite.
And, for the adults in the group, a newly-built spa beckons at the 300-room Grand Oasis Tulum. The Sensoria Spa is located in the resort’s Sian Ka’an and Café del Mar areas. Treatment rooms feature Whirlpools and a private sauna. Other amenities include a temazcal area, bucket shower, sauna and chromatherapy shower that incorporates lights and hydrotherapy.
Spa services are also available on massage beds spread throughout the property. Guests can enjoy views of the Tulum shore from beds located on the 1Terrace Deck in Café del Mar, the resort tiki huts, pier and the beach.
Enrique Klein, vice president of sales and marketing for Oasis Hotels & Resorts tells Travel Agent that improving the guest experience is a key goal.
“Oasis Hotels and Resorts is currently experiencing an evolutionary period where we are continuously improving and expanding our offerings. At Grand Oasis Tulum, we aim to offer tranquility and relaxation in a paradisiacal atmosphere, and we felt that a brand-new Sensoria Spa would complement the destination’s relaxing ambiance and heighten the guest experience. Here, travelers will be able to choose from a diverse spa menu including therapeutic massages, body scrubs and more – all with the goal of rejuvenating and renewing the body and mind,” said Klein.