Florida’s Paradise Coast, including the side-by-side resort cities of Naples and Marco Island as well as Everglades City – the Gulf Coast entrance to Everglades National Park – provides the perfect backdrop for groups, board meetings, conferences, association meetings, incentive groups, and more. Planners are attracted to the area’s newly renovated hotel and resort-based conference facilities, as well as the area’s small city charm with big city amenities.
Before, during, or after meeting agenda activities, Florida’s Paradise Coast offers over 30-miles of beautiful white sand beaches, championship golf, fishing, boating, and nature preserves perfect for hiking, kayaking, and wildlife watching. There are also many excellent choices for shopping, dining, attractions, and world-class arts and cultural centers to entertain attendees and their families.
Combine all of these activities with the area’s top-notch selection of meeting and conference facilities, and it’s easy to understand why planners vote the area as an increasingly popular meetings destination and return to create picture perfect events. And, access to the area is easy from most anywhere with 57 non-stop flights on 14 different carriers to and from Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) in Fort Myers just north of Naples. Auto access is also easy via I-75 or U.S. 41.
Personal Assistance and Top Notch Tools
Planners can access excellent information about meetings on Florida’s Paradise Coast online at paradisecoast.com/meetinparadise. This is the planner’s go-to location for assistance with sourcing your meetings and access to photos, video clips, and links for ordering maps, guides, and other collateral materials.
Group Meeting Properties in Naples and Marco Island include
- AC Hotel by Marriott Naples 5th Avenue
- Hilton Naples
- Hyatt House Naples 5th Avenue
- LaPlaya Beach & Golf Resort
- Naples Bay Resort
- Naples Grande Beach Resort & Spa
- The Ritz-Carlton, Naples
- The Ritz-Carlton Naples, Tiburon
- Inn on Fifth
- J.W. Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort
- Hilton Marco Island Beach Resort & Spa
Offsite Event Locations Range from Sustainable to Sensational
Many planners are sold on the Paradise Coast because of the extraordinary quality and choice of offsite event locations for evening receptions and dinners, teambuilding events and leisure activities.
NGALA is an extraordinary private wildlife preserve that provides a fascinating offsite location for a private group event. NGALA (pronounced En-yala) combines the exclusive opportunity to encounter exotic wildlife with authentic entertainment and fine dining under luxurious canvas tents. Strategically placed wildlife offers guests the opportunity to experience exotic animals close up. Knowledgeable animal handlers interact with guests and ensure their safety and provide a personal and interactive experience.
Artis—Naples, home to The Baker Museum with 16 spectacular art galleries and the Naples Philharmonic, offers more than 800 culturally significant events and exhibits each year on its 8.5-acre cultural campus, as well as an interesting choice of unique meeting venues for groups of 30 to 1,500.
The Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve has a wonderful interactive environmental learning center. Included in this space is a state-of-the-art auditorium, break out meeting and classrooms, an exhibit area with marine and other interactive displays, and reception spaces with views of the mangrove estuary surrounding the reserve. Nature walks and boat tours of the reserve are available, as are volunteer opportunities to participate in reserve’s research and maintenance. All this makes this center an excellent choice for nature related and ecologically-themed events.
The Naples Princess and Marco Island Princess yachts are available for group charters, events, public sightseeing, and dinner cruises. The two elegant yachts offer inside seating in spacious air-conditioned cabins and upper decks for enjoying sea breezes and sunsets.
The Dolphin Explorer cruise boat, with two daily departures from Marco Island allows teams of participants to serve as citizen scientist dolphin researchers. Teams work with a naturalist on board to collect data, photograph and log activities of the resident bottlenose dolphins that live in the estuaries surrounding Naples and Marco Island. This rewarding and challenging experience provides educational and fun team challenge opportunities or leisure breaks.
Gulf Coast Clays is an expansive sporting clays, trap and skeet shooting club in the Port of the Islands area halfway between Naples and Everglades City and convenient to both Marco Island and Naples resorts and hotels. Instructors are available and group events and tournaments are easily facilitated.
Pure Florida, based at Tin City in downtown Naples, offers group experiences on the water, including sightseeing tours for large or small groups, group fishing charters, as well as boat and Jet Ski rentals.
The Revs Institute for Automotive Research in Naples houses one of the most exclusive, historically important and highly prized private auto collections in the world. The Institute's sprawling 80,000 square foot exhibit space is a unique and memorable venue for both large and small group events. It is also an exceptional option for guided tours that can be tailored to accommodate visitors' interests and is recommended to be scheduled in advance.
Focus on Health, Well-Being, and Feeling Good
Naples and all of Southwest Florida is a Blue Zones Community®. That means residents and business owners alike are focused on improving well-being for them and their neighbors. The community is committed to a healthy outlook with goals of lowering obesity rates, smoking, and chronic disease to create a healthier, happier place to live, work, and play. Many of the area’s businesses, including restaurants, attractions, and service-related businesses, are becoming certified as upholding the Blue Zones standards.
Representatives of the Blue Zones Project committee are available to address groups about the effort, or offer advice about healthy eating, work-life balance and other topics. The Blue Zones project began with National Geographic fellow Dan Buettner’s research of three communities in the world where people are living vibrant, active lives well into their hundreds, which led to the fully realized community adoption program now underway in Naples.
Many hotel properties have onsite spas, or can refer guests to nearby day spa facilities. Several of the area’s resort-based spas are large enough to handle the spa needs of your group and are open to the public even if you are not a guest at that resort. Examples include The Spa at Naples Grande Beach Resort, The Spa at Hilton Marco Island Beach Resort & Spa, and the Spa by JW at JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort.
Area resort meeting teams are well-versed in incorporating activities to get attendees moving and motivated before, during or after meeting times. From Yoga on the beach to group runs, bike rides, paddleboard, or kayak activities, there are plenty of options to choose from.
Tournaments and Pastimes
Golf is a passion for many visitors to the area, and with so many courses in the region, the choices are many and varied. All of the major meeting and conference hotels are affiliated with top courses – so planning a golf tournament or golf-themed event is convenient and a perfect fit for many corporate events.
Fishing in the Naples, Marco Island, Ten Thousand Islands and Everglades areas is world-class, and includes adventurous backcountry fishing in the coastal estuaries as well as offshore fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. A large series of artificial reef complexes off Naples and Marco Island coasts has quickly created viable underwater habitats, which means there are now more hot spots to fish in the region. Whether your group seeks to organize a tournament or offer fishing as a recreational option, there are plenty of excellent local charter fishing services to meet your needs.
Let the CVB Guide You to A Perfectly Planned Meeting
For all your group meeting needs, contact the CVB’s sales and marketing team for personal assistance with submitting RFP’s, to review destination information, and more. You can reach CVB Group Sales Manager - Lisa B. Chamberlain, CMP at Lisa.Chamberlain@CollierCountyFL.gov.
