'I left feeling like a better person': in the Dominican Republic with Iberostar
Madeleine BarberTTG’s Sustainable Travel Ambassadors discover tropical beach vibes, responsible fine dining, mangrove restoration and an educational Coral Lab at Iberostar Selection Bavaro Suites, north of Punta Cana
“This disease is catastrophic; it has a 100% mortality rate.” Greg Pelose’s sorrow is palpable as he regales the grim truth of stony coral tissue loss disease, a ruthless plague rapidly sweeping over the Caribbean sea beds and leaving a graveyard of ghostly white coral in its wake.
He’s stood beside an observation tank on the hot sands of the Dominican Republic’s Playa Bavaro, wearing a navy blue Wave of Change polo shirt and talking of Iberostar Hotels and Resorts’ efforts to save numerous coral species from this disease and rising sea temperatures. This includes the dark-brown creature submerged before us whose long and wayward tentacles are dancing to the rhythm of the tank’s artificial waves.
“We’ve lost 95% of this particular coral, which means it’s probably the rarest species you’ll ever see in your lifetime,” coral lab coordinator Pelose tells the four visiting TTG Sustainable Travel Ambassadors in Training, who are sustainability-conscious travel agents beyond enthralled by this unofficial science lesson. We’ve been invited to stay at Iberostar Selection Bavaro Suites as part of the TTG Sustainable Travel Heroes programme and are learning how Iberostar has made all-inclusive hotel stays a force for good.
The Dominican Republic Coral Lab, which is accompanied by Iberostar’s eight coral nurseries globally, is a perfect example. Its three primary goals are education, experimentation and restoration of the 20-plus coral species it houses – around a third of the total number of coral species residing in the Caribbean. Guests of the five Iberostar hotels within the group’s Bavaro resort can visit the Coral Lab to read information boards and see the diverse range of species in Iberostar’s care at any time, but we’re tipped off to visit around midday.
When we do, we catch the team feeding the coral and let out a chorus of “wows” as the marine invertebrates’ tentacles stretch out to suck minuscule plankton particles into its mouths. The whole experience is not only fascinating, it’s rewarding too. As Emma Butterworth of Adventures by Emma explains: “Taking time to visit the Coral Lab and learn from the team there leaves you feeling like a better person.”
WALK OF CHANGE
We find more opportunities to satiate our knowledge-hungry minds on the resort’s Walk of Change trail. As well as the Coral Lab it takes in a mangrove restoration area, apiary and bird observation deck; all of which can be easily reached by resort buggy. The resort’s surrounding mangroves, we learn, are of the red, white and button variety – three of the four species found in the Caribbean – and though they’re often mistaken by the uneducated eye for solid ground, they have muddy depths of more than a metre.
Communicating via some “Spanglish” with the mangrove caretakers we learn Iberostar’s Wave of Change programme has planted more than 16,000 mangroves in and around its Bavaro resort. This project is so crucial because globally 50% of the “sea trees” – which absorb huge amounts of carbon, release essential oxygen and provide a habitat for marine life – have been lost to deforestation in the past 50 years.
Around the corner we find the apiary, where guests can watch bees at work, seek the queen inside a glass-fronted hive and learn fun facts. Did you know a worker bee will visit around 7,200 flowers in its lifetime to make approximately five grammes of honey? Iberostar serves the honey its bees produce in on-site restaurants such as the Los Haitises main buffet.
PICK THE PIONEER
With mealtimes seeing everything from omelettes, baked goods and fry-ups to pastas, meats and seafood platters plated up at a buffet for the taking three times a day, it’s mind boggling that Iberostar’s Wave of Change Report states the group only sent 0.69kg of waste to landfill per stay (globally) in 2023. By my calculation that’s only around two-thirds of an orange per day, assuming the average length of stay is seven days; and it shows an impressive year-on-year reduction of 40%.
This, along with its resorts being single-use plastic free, is one of the reasons why Iberostar is on track to meet its goal to be waste-free by 2025. But how has an all-inclusive resort brand done that? I hear you ask. It’s down to AI. Clever Winnow technology analyses both buffet and a la carte food waste to advise which items to buy and serve less of, with Iberostar being one of the first hotel companies to use it – others are now starting to follow suit.
The dining options at Iberostar’s Bavaro location are vast and varied. Our favourites fast become El Faro at Coral Level, Casa de la Playa at Grand Bavaro, which serves up classic Dominican dishes, and La Palapita, where we dine wiggling our toes in the sand. Wherever we choose to break bread, seafood makes an appearance on the menu. Advise clients visiting between March and June Iberostar will serve no local lobster in order to respect the crustacean’s breeding season. This is one of many policies the group has put in place to ensure 100% of its seafood is responsibly sourced by 2025. In the Dominican Republic, they’ve so far achieved 82% (as of December 2023).
During a behind-the-scenes tour with the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) team and a presentation by the sustainability team, we’re told the group is on track to reach its targets, which is no mean feat. When it’s time to check out we leave feeling inspired but above all impressed, to see Iberostar is not just talking the talk, but walking the walk too.
Book it: Gold Medal offers seven nights on an all-inclusive basis at Iberostar Selection Bavaro Suites (Junior Suite) for £1,629pp. Based on 12 May 2025 departure and including flights with British Airways, plus shared transfers; goldmedal.co.uk
Check out Iberostar’s new B2B platform at iberostaragents.com
Responsible excursions
While there is an abundance of activities to be enjoyed on site (recommend Iberostar’s sunrise yoga for adults and the Star Camp kids’ club for ages 4-17), one way clients can travel responsibly is by booking excursions beyond the resorts they stay in. In the Dominican Republic, Iberostar offers the Los Ojos Eco Journey by Grupo Puntacana Foundation, a non-profit organisation aiming to improve the well-being of Punta Cana locals and preserve the area’s ecosystem. Visitors to the group’s eco park just south of Punta Cana will see beekeeping in action, a rhinoceros iguana conservation project and the inner workings of a community-run farm before cooling off in a secluded section of the ocean and a tree-lined, turquoise cenote; puntacana.org
Selling tips
TTG Sustainable Travel Ambassadors in Training share the selling tips they gleaned from their stay at Iberostar Selection Bavaro Suites:
Utilise the Iberostar app
“Recommend downloading the Iberostar app to get a feel for what activities there are, and when and where they take place, so customers can plan their days around them. If you as an agent have the app downloaded you can then inform clients what activities are available [in advance].”
Jayne Lomax, Travel Counsellors
Emphasise inclusions to upsell
“All the rooms are lovely and spacious, but try to upsell your clients. Really stress that if they’re staying at one of the higher category resorts [such as the Grand Bavaro or Coral Level], they can use the facilities at some [or all] of the others [including Punta Cana, Dominicana and Selection Bavaro Suites].”
Alicia Sharpe, Luxeco Holidays
Highlight free watersports
“Share that guests get one hour of non-motorised watersports [such as kayaking] for free every day and if they pay for a 45-minute introduction to catamaran sailing course they can then sail for free for the rest of their stay.”
Adam Burgess, Travel Counsellors
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