The Compass on VAX sat down with Jacki Marks, global head of trade brands for ALG Vacations, at the brand’s annual Elite Emerald Retreat in sunny Miches, Dominican Republic, to discuss the importance of showing appreciation for travel advisors, how to get invited to the company’s annual events and what’s next for the brand. Read on for all the exciting details.
Q: Why Is Supporting Travel Advisors So Important to ALG Vacations?
A: “[Advisors] have one of the hardest jobs. They have to know so much information, they have to deal with all the crises that come, and yet, through it all, they continue to be loyal to our company. They continue to give us feedback,” said Marks. Regarding events like ALGV’s annual Elite Emerald Retreat specifically, Marks said: “When advisors reach this Elite status, there’s nothing that makes me happier than showing them gratitude and appreciation. … So much of our world has become virtual, but this is the minimum one time a year where we get together, we hug them, we’re friends and we all remember that, no matter what happens during the year, no matter how many challenges we face or how many re-bookings we have to do, any technology issues they [advisors] face, in the end, we remember this is why we do it. We’re a very unique community. We’re unlike any other industry; we’re community over competition and these trips bring together the ‘why’ behind a lot of the year that we go through.”
Q: ALG Vacations Is Emphasizing the Importance of ‘Future-Proofing Your Travel Business,’ Can You Share Why This Topic Is Important Right Now and What ALG Vacations Is Doing To Help Advisors Get Started?
A: “The world is moving faster than I’ve ever seen when it comes to AI. New tools, new technology, we’ve seen a lot of evolution. When I started, I hate to even say this, but the web became a thing, and I remember everyone thought like, ‘Oh, what are we going to do? The World Wide Web and these Internet sites and all this stuff …’ Well, even that moved at a much slower pace compared to what’s happening with AI and how consumers adjusted to different things over the years, AI is moving at a rapid pace,” said Marks. “I know exactly where I was when we started testing and understanding AI, and that was only a couple of years ago, and now, it’s becoming part of everyone’s daily tools so we have to do everything we can with our knowledge and our investment financially to bring small business owners along to where we think we can help them because small business owners don’t have the resources and budget that we do. So, by us being able to do the things we do for them, we’re hopefully helping them compete with a rapidly changing world.”
ALGV hosted an educational breakout session titled “Future-Proofing Your Travel Business” during the 2026 Elite Emerald Retreat that touched on how advisors can adopt new technology to help their business thrive, a topic Marks said was born from advisor feedback. “These seminars, the ‘Future-Proofing Your Business,’ the education seminars we do at Ascend, everything we do is to know that if advisors are successful, we’ll be successful,” said Marks. “[After,] we listen and we get advisors’ feedback and say, ‘Where are you struggling?’ ‘What are you challenged with?’ And then that designs the programs and education seminars we create.”
Q: Are There Any Exciting New Resources or Updates From ALG Vacations You Want Advisors To Know About?
A: “We’re making a multi-million-dollar investment in AI tools that are going to directly benefit the advisor, that’s the impetus behind the investment. [With that] VAX is going to change, itinerary building is going to change, deal finding is going to change, we’re going to automate group quotes and, the most important thing about all of this, is that we are going to seek outside companies to help us accelerate this,” said Marks.
Another tool worth calling out is the brand’s new Travel Advisor Portal, a resource allowing travel pros to track their booking progress and utilize data-driven insights to learn and grow. “I sat with an agent at lunch today and she said, ‘I get up every single day and I open up that report,’” said Marks. “She checks her progress, she’s goal oriented, she wants to know what it’s going to take to be able to make the next level of Elite. So, the TA Portal will continue to evolve and give advisors new things that they can research and look at in their business.”
Finally, changes are in store for ALGV Pro, the brand’s education platform, too. “We’re going through a major overhaul of ALGV Pro,” said Marks. “There’s a new Spanish version of it and we’re going to continue to find new modules that advisors are asking for.”
Q: Advisors Are Always Looking for Opportunities to Attend FAM Trips, Where Can They Go to Learn More About FAMs Hosted by ALG Vacations and What Can They Do To Be Invited On Trips or Retreats?
A: “This is the first year we ever did an event release party, and that was done in February, because we wanted to be transparent about our events,” said Marks. “There’s nothing better than knowing that everybody seems to want to be at our events. It means we’re doing something right, it means people find value in them and that they find the networking and education important, but we only have so many events a year and we can’t host every single advisor.”
To help advisors stay up-to-date, ALGV launched a dedicated event webpage tracking which events are happening throughout the year and what advisors need to do to qualify to participate. “That has really been good for us because now we’re finding the advisors are seeking out and being able to prepare for events ahead of time, set the goals and the expectations of what it’s going to take to be able to get invited to one of those events, and then be rewarded when they achieve that,” she said.
ALGV’s largest annual event is Ascend, a conference advisors need to meet a minimum production level to attend. Alternatively, Marks said advisors can try working through their BDM to get a spot on the guest list. “If you’re new to us and you have not started doing business with us, but are looking to grow with us, you can work with your BDM to get put on the invite list as a result of your commitment to wanting to grow with us, but typically it starts with a minimum production level.”
According to Marks, 1500 advisors applied to attend Ascend this year, of that, 850 were accepted. “It’s been really fun to watch on social media, those that are saying, ‘I got accepted,’ and we continue to try to let new advisors in every single year. So, on average, 60-to-70% of Ascend attendees will always be new.”
Q: Is There Anything Else You Want Advisors To Know?
A: “I really hope advisors are learning and growing with us in the world of AI,” said Marks. “I hope that they’re using our education platform, and ultimately, I really hope they’re using our new tools within our service and call center. We have a new Premier Destinations team that is supporting them [advisors] on how to build multi-complex Europe destinations and rest of world, Indo-Pacific. So, if advisors aren’t familiar or comfortable, we’re more than just a technology company with a great booking engine, we also have a call center and service support that will help them build things they’re not comfortable with. If they have a luxury client that needs extra help, we have luxury concierge team with our Luxe by ALG Vacations. So, we continue to give them the things that they’ve said they need, and I hope they’re embracing it.”
“I hope they [advisors] keep giving us feedback because the best things we’ve delivered have been a result of advisor feedback,” said Marks.
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