Booking Diamond Dallas Page's DDP Yoga Retreat at Karisma Hotel in Mexico

For the last seven years, Sally Jane Smith, co-owner of the TravelSmiths travel agency, has partnered with her celebrity brother, wrestling legend and fitness instructor, Diamond Dallas Page, on a special set of fitness retreats at various Karisma Hotels & Resorts properties in the Riviera Maya, Mexico.
 
And now, for the first time, Smith is sharing a piece of the pie with every other agent looking to earn commission on a unique health and wellness offering at a beachfront resort in Mexico this July. Page's DDP Yoga retreat will run from July 7 - 12 at El Dorado Casitas Royale by Karisma.
 
“We started at this location and we're coming back to it because, of all the places that I've been to, it's the sweetest,” says Page. “They get that a vacation is not just about going and partying or just laying around. It's about building that time to exercise, so you don't need to vacation after your vacation. Any kind of exercise alleviates stress.”
 
This year’s summer retreat will mark the eighth time the group has been hosted by Karisma, but the first time agencies aside from TravelSmiths can earn a commission on it. We were told the group increases every year and an average of 30 – 50 rooms with weeklong stays are sold.
 
"We started this eight years ago and [Dallas] made [eating healthy on vacation] fashionable when it wasn't fashionable," Smith says. "In fact, Karisma changed and actually put gluten free items on the menus before anyone else did because of our group."
 
According to Wikipedia, Page developed a yoga fitness program initially called Yoga for Regular Guys Workout or "YRG" after recovering from ruptures to his L4/L5 discs in 1998.
 
Page then developed the written program into a series of workout videos titled DDP Yoga. And the new videos began to go viral when DDP Yoga was featured in a video about one of its biggest success stories, Arthur Boorman, a disabled war veteran who was told by doctors he would never walk again. After 15 years on crutches, Boorman lost 140 pounds in 10 months and regained the ability to walk and run without his crutches, back braces or leg braces.

But, while DDP Yoga does incorporate some traditional practices, Page doesn't take too lightly people calling his program yoga. 

“First of all, it's nothing like yoga,” says Page. “It may have yoga positions in it, but I took it to another level. I always say, 'Most yoga is very 'Namaste.' DDP Yoga is way more 'T' and 'A,' or tone and attitude. That's what we're about. We're not about put your arms to the heavens, so the universe responds back. I am way more intense, but it's only in the way of engaging muscles. We're flexing and engaging as you move. Every time you flex or engage your muscles, your heart has to beat faster to get the blood to the muscle. That’s DDP Yoga.”

Instead, Page says his 'yoga' combines fitness with sports therapy.

“It’s yoga meets rehab, meets old school calisthenics, meets dynamic resistance," says Page. “I’ve been able to take yoga and create yoga for people who wouldn't be caught dead doing yoga,” says Page. “It's life changing, what we're doing and taking it to these different properties of Karisma. It's very interactive. The people who come are all really like-minded and they're looking for that health and wellness vacation and I give it to them.”

So, is this for the casual fitness person or for experts only?

“I think it's people who are looking really to enjoy a holiday, but it ain't your momma's yoga retreat," says Page. "We work out, we teach people how to eat really healthy, but they can eat any way they want to eat. We give them that experience to be able to eat well because that's what Karisma does. They have a lot of really healthy options and I want to tell people I don't care how healthy something is, if it doesn't taste great, I'm not eating it. So, they get to work out, they get to eat great food, and we party. We have a whole Casitas area with our own bartenders and everything."

How to Book DDP Yoga

Diamond Dallas Page leads his DDP Yoga class at El Dorado Seaside Suites, by Karisma in 2017. // Photo courtesy of TravelSmiths

The 2018 DDP Yoga retreat will be held from July 7 - 12 at El Dorado Casitas Royale by Karisma in the Riviera Maya, Mexico.

Agents need to contact TravelSmiths at groups@thetravelsmiths.com to secure clients’ space at the retreat. Agents can book clients’ rooms under their own agency. Agents are then required to pay TravelSmiths $850 per person (non-refundable) for the DDP Yoga event. Agents receive 10 percent commission. 

If the TravelSmiths fee is paid via credit card by the agent, the payment of $850 must be paid in full. If it is paid by a check, agents may pay $765 to keep their commission in house. 

“With the agents, that's gonna be a great thing because they'll be able to keep their clients," says Smith. "What we're gonna need is the name of the client. It's like contact information. We're going to be like a tour operator to them. They pay the additional fee. They'll make a commission on it and it's great, but then they'll keep their client. That's not something that we would take."

TravelSmiths Takes Home Top Honors at 2017 GIVCs

Paul Smith smooches his wife, Sally Jane Smith, after TravelSmiths wins top honors at Karisma's Gourmet Inclusive Vacation Consultant (GIVC) awards.

Travel Agent covered this year’s Karisma's Gourmet Inclusive Vacation Consultant (GIVC) awards, where TravelSmiths, led by Sally Jane and Paul Smith, took home the show’s top honor. The agency was awarded the “Hall of Fame” honor for “her great support throughout the years,” according to a Karisma spokesperson, who also noted that Diamond Dallas Page got married at Azul Beach Resort The Fives Playa del Carmen in 2015, per Sally Jane’s referral. 

"The reason we are successful selling Karisma and the reason we love selling Karisma is that it is a brand we trust," says Sally Jane. "I know the people of the company, I know the products. And that's what I love the most, that I can sleep well at night knowing my clients are in good hands. After all, it's my name attached to everything."

About DDP the Wrestler

According to his Wikipedia page, Diamond Dallas Page (DDP) first broke into the wrestling business in 1988, as a manager in the American Wrestling Association, where he worked for nine months before signing with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1991.

In the course of his career, which spanned two decades, Page has wrestled for mainstream wrestling promotions WCW, the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).

On February 20, WWE announced that Page would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2017, and on March 31, he was officially inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Visit www.ddpretreat.com and www.karismahotels.com. Keep visiting www.travelagentcentral.com for all your latest travel news and be sure to follow Travel Agent’s Joe Pike on Twitter @TravelPike and Instagram @pike5260.

Related Stories

Inside Karisma’s Plans for Future Caribbean Development

Karisma Completes Expansion of Azul Beach Resort The Fives

Exclusive: Details on Karisma's Plans to Open Three Hotels in Cap Cana

Karisma Re-Introduces Its First Jamaica Hotel With 149 New Rooms