Key Takeaways
There's a moment in hospitality when an amenity tips from optional to expected. It happened with WiFi. It happened with flat-screen TVs. And right now, across Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and the broader Caribbean, it's happening with pickleball.
Resort operators who dismissed the sport a few years ago are now scrambling to retrofit courts into properties that weren't designed with them in mind. The ones who moved early are already getting mentioned in travel guides, niche sport tourism blogs, and the kind of word-of-mouth that drives repeat bookings. The difference is meaningful.
To understand why Latin American and Caribbean resorts are investing in pickleball, you have to look at where their guests are coming from.
A large portion of international visitors to Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and the Caribbean originate from the United States and Canada. And according to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association, pickleball participation in the U.S. grew 311% over three years, reaching an estimated 19.8 million players in 2024. That's a lot of people who own a paddle, play multiple times per week, and don't stop thinking about the sport just because they're on vacation.
Sport-motivated travelers are a specific type of guest. They plan their trips around activity access. They read reviews with an eye toward court quality and equipment. And when they find a resort that gets it right, they come back. And they bring their friends.
The Baja California coast has quietly become one of the most significant pickleball destinations in Latin America. Tres Palapas Baja Pickleball Resort in Los Barriles offers ten outdoor courts with permanent nets and lighting, daily open play, clinics, round-robins, tournaments, a café, a pool, and lodging. The resort draws players from across North America looking for a destination built entirely around the sport.
Just a few minutes up the beach, the Palmas de Cortez resort took an even bigger swing. The Palmas Pickleball Resort and Academy at Palmas de Cortez opened 24 brand-new courts by the Sea of Cortez in late 2024, along with a pro shop and restaurant. Group trips from California, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, New Jersey, and Canada have already filled out multiple travel windows, with many guests returning for second and third visits.
That's not a niche experiment. That's a proven business model built on pickleball demand.
Casa de Campo, the Dominican Republic's leading tennis resort, added four dedicated pickleball courts along with two new padel courts, and the expansion made its Racquet Center the largest racquet facility in the Caribbean. The resort now offers pickleball programming for both beginners and experienced players.
And Casa de Campo isn't alone. Bahia Principe Hotels and Resorts announced pickleball across 13 of its properties, including resorts in the Dominican Republic's Bavaro and Punta Cana region as well as in Jamaica and Mexico's Riviera Maya. A resort group that large doesn't make infrastructure decisions like that without serious data behind the demand.
Club Med has been adding pickleball courts across its all-inclusive resorts for years, including at Club Med Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, and the Margaritaville Island Reserve Cap Cana, which opened with pickleball courts built into the original plans, launched with a Sports Hub that included both pickleball and tennis from day one.
Sandals and Beaches Resorts have incorporated pickleball across multiple Caribbean properties, combining it with their all-inclusive model to appeal to sport-motivated guests who want both competitive play and a full vacation experience without managing logistics separately.
The pattern is consistent across countries. A resort adds courts. Occupancy from a specific traveler segment increases. Reviews improve. Word spreads. Other resorts take notice.
Here's a question worth sitting with: what does a traveler do when they've narrowed their vacation options down to two comparable resorts at a similar price point?
In most cases, the tiebreaker comes down to specific amenities. For millions of active North American travelers, having pickleball courts available tips the decision. It's that simple, and it's why resorts that treat the sport as a serious program rather than an afterthought keep showing up on the recommendation lists that actually influence bookings.
Specialized travel platforms are picking up on this too. Dedicated pickleball travel sites now list LATAM and Caribbean resort options and connect them directly with players actively planning sport-motivated trips. Organized pickleball travel operators now run structured group trips to Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, the Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas, and Antigua, contracting directly with resorts that have adequate court capacity and providing certified instructors, organized play, and social programming throughout the trip.
These aren't casual vacationers who might hit a ball around. They're repeat, high-value guests who plan multiple trips per year and bring group bookings with them.
Pickleball's rise in the LATAM hospitality market isn't limited to large resort chains. Boutique properties, villas, and vacation rentals with private courts are seeing demand from smaller groups who want an exclusive experience without the crowds of a big all-inclusive property.
Purpose-built pickleball retreat properties in Costa Rica, for example, have developed a strong following among players who want intensive coaching in a private setting. Properties like Pura Vida House in Costa Rica have built a loyal guest base by centering the vacation experience around structured coaching, organized play, and a community atmosphere, with guests returning for multiple stays and consistently leaving strong reviews that drive new bookings.
For property managers and boutique resort operators, this creates a real opportunity. You don't need 24 courts to capture pickleball travelers. Two or four well-maintained courts with quality equipment, organized open play, and a clear listing that communicates what you offer is often enough to reach a motivated traveler segment that's actively looking for options.
Adding courts is the first step. Keeping them stocked with quality gear is the ongoing operational reality.
Resort guests aren't always gentle with borrowed equipment, and balls, paddle surfaces, and covers degrade quickly under daily tropical use. Buying retail every time you need to restock is expensive and logistically inefficient. For most resort operators managing multiple courts across a busy season, wholesale pickleball equipment for resorts and hotels is the more practical approach.
PicklePro Shop, a Florida-based pickleball brand that designs and quality-controls all its products locally, has been expanding its wholesale reach specifically toward Caribbean and Latin American resort buyers. Their geography matters here. Being based in South Florida puts them closer to the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Colombia, and the broader Caribbean than most suppliers, which means shorter shipping timelines and simpler import logistics for resort procurement teams.
Their MAX and PKLE paddle lines use T700 carbon fiber faces and thermoformed unibody construction, and every paddle ships with a fitted protective cover included. For resort settings where gear rotates through many hands per day, those covers reduce wear in storage and extend product life in a way that retail paddles typically don't account for. PicklePro Shop also backs its MAX and PKLE paddles with a one-year limited warranty, which provides meaningful protection when you're buying in volume for commercial use.
Not every resort in Latin America and the Caribbean has made the pickleball investment yet. That gap won't last much longer, but for properties that haven't moved yet, there's still an advantage in being early within their specific market or region.
A resort in Colombia's Caribbean coast, for example, or a boutique property in a less-traveled part of the Riviera Maya, can capture sport-motivated travelers who are actively looking for options in underserved areas. Pickleball travel isn't just about going back to the same places. Players want to explore new destinations, and they'll choose properties that meet their court expectations even in less obvious locations.
The sport isn't slowing down. The traveler segment it generates is growing. And the LATAM resort market is still in the middle of figuring out how to serve it well.
The primary driver is the large and growing number of North American pickleball players who choose vacation destinations based on court availability. Sport-motivated travelers from the U.S. and Canada represent a high-value, repeat-booking guest segment, and resorts with quality courts and programming are seeing measurable increases in bookings from this group.
Notable properties include the Palmas Pickleball Resort and Tres Palapas Baja in Los Barriles, Mexico; Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic, which now hosts the largest racquet facility in the Caribbean; Bahia Principe properties across the DR and Riviera Maya; Club Med Punta Cana; and various Sandals and Beaches Resorts throughout the Caribbean. The list continues to grow as more properties invest.
Pickleball is growing among local populations across Latin America, but in most LATAM resort destinations, the primary demand currently comes from North American tourists. Over time, as the sport's infrastructure expands and local players develop, regional participation is expected to grow as well.
At a minimum, resorts need regulation nets, paddles in a range of weights and styles for different skill levels, outdoor-rated balls, and protective covers for storage. Properties with higher guest volume typically stock more paddles to accommodate simultaneous open play across multiple courts and maintain spare inventory for the inevitable wear and replacement cycle.
In most cases, resorts work with wholesale suppliers that offer bulk pricing and consolidated shipping. U.S.-based suppliers with proximity to the Caribbean and Latin America can offer shorter lead times and simpler import logistics than sourcing directly from manufacturers in Asia, which matters for properties that need to restock on a predictable schedule during peak tourist seasons.
Yes. While large resort chains have the resources to build multi-court complexes, boutique properties and vacation rentals with two to four well-maintained courts can effectively capture smaller groups and dedicated players who prefer a more private experience. Clear listing descriptions, quality equipment, and organized play formats go a long way toward attracting sport-motivated travelers even without a large court footprint.
Resorts that offer genuine pickleball programs, meaning quality courts, proper equipment, and organized play rather than just painted lines on a surface, tend to attract guests who book specifically because of that amenity and return regularly. Sport-motivated travelers are known for planning multiple trips per year and bringing group bookings, which translates to predictable occupancy from a loyal guest segment.
