Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is 21 miles in length and as much as 14 miles in width, amounting to 166 square miles. It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 62 miles east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea therein, it is about 104 miles east of the islands of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and 250 miles north-east of Trinidad and Tobago. Barbadian traditions range from afternoon tea and cricket (the national sport) to pursuits such as scuba diving at Dottins Reef and golfing on designer oceanside courses.

Punta Cana is part of the newly created Punta Cana-Bávaro-Veron-Macao municipal district in La Altagracia, the easternmost province of the Dominican Republic. The area is best known for its beaches and balnearios, which face both the Caribbean and Atlantic, and it has been a popular tourist destination since the 1970s. The Punta Cana area has an estimated population of 100,000 with a growth rate of 6%. To the north, it borders the village and beach of Cabeza de Toro, and then the Bávaro and El Cortecito beaches. The nearest city, the 500-year-old capital of the Province Higüey, is 45 kilometres (28 mi) away, and it takes about an hour to drive there. Europeans, particularly Spanish hotel chains, own all but two of the 50+ megaresorts of the Punta Cana tourism destination.