Talking about golf in Guanacaste

When talking about incentives travel and high executives we have to talk about golf and courses. And we must say that Costa Rica and specially Guanacaste has turned to be one of the hottest golf destinations.

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When talking about incentives travel and high executives we have to talk about golf and courses. And we must say that Costa Rica and specially Guanacaste has turned to be one of the hottest golf destinations. Names like Robert Trent Jones, Arnold Palmer and Mike Young are some of the designers and developers of the courses in the country.

Hacienda Pinilla

Sustainability and Conservation:

Costa Rica golf is in tune with the country conservation and sustainability policies and players enjoy courses surrounded by rainforests with wildlife sightings. Designers and developers have determined a true protection of the environment, using for instance, grass that can be kept with salt water, farmlands turned into golf courses (Not to cut any of the existing rainforests) and several strategical practices to make this amazing sport sustainable.

Talking about the Golf Courses in Guanacaste:

These are the most renowned courses in the areas close to the Liberia Airport and in the main resorts used on incentive programs:

Westin Conchal

Conchal

The golf course in the Westin Conchal is spread out and quite wide-open absolutely beautiful with stunning views of the ocean, green-blue mountains, thick forests and man-made obstacles.

The Robert Trent Jones II Playa Conchal golf course is 7,080 yards from the back tees with a par of 72. It is a quite stimulating course challenging players with different types of shots, and changing the layout to keep everyone from being bored. This together with amazing sea views from several areas.

The course also has a large club house, and club storage, a complete practice facility and driving range.

Course Facts

Par: 72

Yardage: 7,080

Rating: 74.2

Architect: Robert Trent Jones II

The Four Seasons Golf Club

Four Seasons

The Four Seasons Golf Club Costa Rica is set on the superb Papagayo Peninsula, where there is a permanent breeze coming from the Pacific Ocean.

Arnold Palmer signature golf course has wide, rolling fairways and large greens, providing challenge while permitting the participants the chance to play golf in tune with wildlife and the surrounding tropical nature.

14 of its 18 holes have dazzling and quite extensive views of the Pacific Ocean and it is set in a tremendously beautiful forest area. The course is embedded completely with Paspalum, a heat tolerant grass that can be irrigated with salt water.

The course has five sets of tees, that is, five different options in course length depending upon the golfer’s level of skill. The five total distances in yards are:

Black Tees 6788

Blue  6522

White  6147

Gold  5579

Red  4880

*Twilight begins at noon and in addition to the green’s fee and range fee, includes rental clubs and shoes.  Juniors are 15 years old or younger.

Hacienda Pinilla

Langosta Beach - Home of the JW Marriott

Hacienda Pinilla

Mike Young’s Hacienda Pinilla is spread over 4,500 acres along the Pacific Coast, offering a championship golf course and over three miles of beachfront.

Pinilla’s golf course is a 7,500-yard, par-72 masterpiece, with stunning rolling hills, open ranges and fresh water lakes.  It is encircled by three miles of pristine shoreline, two charming creeks and a massive tropical dry forest filled with wildlife. The resort also provides a broad clubhouse, driving range, putting green and experienced pro instructors.

The course has a great balance between golf and nature and the participants golf experience will be a whole with Costa Rica’s famous bio-diversity. There was a determination to keep human impact on the land to a minimum.  In fact, Hacienda Pinilla is certified by the Audubon Society for policies towards the environment.

Course Facts:

Par: 72

Yardage: 7,274

Rating: 74.7

Architect: Mike Young

Source: Premio DMC 

Liberia Airport Improvements

More than 3000 people arrive every day in the high season (From December to April) into Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia, looking for a pura vida style vacation in the Guanacaste beaches and resorts.

The airport authorities, however, are working hard in keeping up with such a large amount of simultaneous passengers.

Hernan Juarez, a civil aviation official at the airport, said the runway operates nonstop during this time period at the beginning of the year, especially during weekends, because many airlines have arrivals at the same time, causing sometimes long lines and flooding customs and immigration services.

“We are working with about 3000 passengers daily. It gets very crowded both in the lobby and at the boarding gate. We have tried to relieve overcrowding during peak hours, with this terminal. Almost all the airlines try to arrive between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. so then there is a build-up of operations during that period, leaving other hours free. We have tried to manage this type of slots so they can be covered and thus relieve overcrowding during peak hours” said Juarez.

With so many tourists coming to Guanacaste, the Technical Council of Civil Aviation (CETAC- Consejo Técnico de Aviación Civil) has made improvements to the Liberia airport since mid-2015. And more to come for 2016.

The tarmac surface was improved, they finished painting horizontal lines on the landing strip and invested in the parking area of the bridge of landing strip 3.

Also, the Costa Rican Oil Refinery (RECOPE- Refinadora Costarricense de Petroleo) started building a tank to store 5,000 barrels of A-1 jet fuel on land next to the air terminal to provide more convenient services to aviation in general.

The work continues in 2016. According to Juarez, they have to continue with resurfacing the remaining part of the runway, measuring 2750 meters (3000 yards), and they will do work on 2100 meters (2300 yards) of runway.

Additionally, they are planning to widen the runway to 300 meters (984 feet). Currently the airport runway has parking for 9 aircraft, of which 4 have landing bridges, according to Civil Aviation data.

As well as there are new immigration police positions to be opened by the government in 2016 to thereby handle the staff shortage bringing down to a minimum the congestion created by thousands of passengers at times.

At Premio DMC we celebrate the good news about improvements, as they are to improve as well the experience of any program coming to the beautiful province of Guanacaste.

Source: Premio DMC

Ten reasons for Costa Rica to have the award of Best Destination

Costa Rica was awarded as the Best Destination on Central and South America by the Travel Weekly readers for the tenth time!

Winners, chosen by Travel Weekly readers for excellence in product and service during the past year, were announced in 74 categories in the airline, car, hospitality, rail, GDS, agent education, tour, cruise, destination and theme park sectors.

The nominees and winners are elected among two voting rounds in the total circulation of Travel Weekly, composed by travel agents and tour operators. This popular and recognized awards are annually given to the travel industry providers that have been outstanding in leadership, products and services.

In terms of Destinations, Costa Rica got, for the tenth time, the award for the Best Destination of Central and South America, over giants like Argentina, Peru or México.

Now… What makes Costa Rica to be such a great destination for so many people?

Manuel Antonio Sunset

 1- It is small: You can go across, from one ocean to the other in six hours, literally speaking.

2. It is diverse: In very little time you get to see very different landscapes.

3.Wildlife: This is a place in the neo-tropics, where you can actually see a lot of animals, monkeys, sloths and an abundance of birds.

Squirrel Monkey

4. Hotels: We have some of the best hotel chains and boutique hotels in the continent. Luxurious and full of activities, Costa Rica is prepared for the pickiest of travelers. 

5. Entertainment: Costa Rica has available great entertainers due to its excellent education system, it is quite easy to find first-rate musicians, dancers, body painters, etc.

6.English is spoken: Even though Spanish is the mother tongue of Costa Ricans, the government has done a remarkable job in having English taught in schools delivering a good percentage in the population with good English skills.

Kids in Guanacaste

7. Peace: Costa Rica have not had any political unrest for more than 60 years now. We do not have an army and are neutral which makes it an extremely safe country.

8. Adventure: Costa Rica is where rainforest canopy tours were invented. We have aerial trams, jungle hanging bridges and some of the best rafting rivers in the World.

9.Weather: Being in the tropics Costa Rica doesn’t have the four seasons, it has an average temperature of 80°-90° F all year round.

10. Happiness: Costa Rica has been considered to be the happiest country in the Happy Planet Index, meaning that we are the happiest people with less need of resources to pay for that happiness. But this gets to our visitors. Participants feel it in every program… The best of Costa Rica is the friendliness and natural joy of Costa Ricans!

Source:  Premio DMC

Our Rainforest Theme

Rainforest… that is a magical Word!

It enhances all senses… Sounds, aromas, textures, colors, and spicy flavors seem to live in the air. Our eyes and ears are alert, while we are on a trail, the place it’s darker than we might think as only 20% of the light gets to the bottom of the jungle. And this gives it an even wider aura of mystery…

The rainforest is one of the main reasons why many people come to visit Costa Rica every year. Living the intensity of the jungle is a dream for a real nature lover and an amazing experience to behold for anyone… And that is why at Premio DMC we decided to go for the Rainforest Theme in our events, bringing some of the natural wonders of Costa Rica to the hotel for all participants to delight in the rainforests of our country and the human creativity about them.Talking about our Rainforest Theme, we talk about a dark, green and brown setting… with amazing color glittering here and there, live plants,  the usual ones you can find at the entrance of any trail in the forest, and of course the perfect light to fill everything with magic from the very start.
Table clothes compliment the natural colors… yes… But so much more! Every table is a tree, it has leaves, it has flowers and, of course, chairs are the trunks, in deep brown.  The atmosphere of each table is an iridescent glow that makes participants feel like Pandora’s (Avatar’s planet) inhabitants.
Birds of paradise, orchids and Heliconia are a treat that you can find everywhere… as it is in the rainforest. The pink, red and orange gifts of nature are here omnipresent as gorgeous and weird shape as they are!Now Imagined all that and we haven’t mentioned the entertainment yet… Sounds and aromas that will make every participant to feel immersed in the enchanting rainforest realm.
From: Premiodmc.com