About 1000 travel advisors, suppliers and ALG Vacations (ALGV) representatives recently gathered in Cancun for the company’s much anticipated Ascend conference. There’s never a dull moment when it comes to an ALGV event, and this year’s theme, “We’ll Be There for You,” stole peoples’ hearts, with Friends-themed décor, references and photo ops.
During the event Ray Snisky, group president, and Jacki Marks, global head of trade brands, sat down with the media to share more about the company’s strategy, technology enhancements and new offerings.
How Travel Advisors Shape ALGV’s Strategy
According to Marks, strategy starts with advisor feedback. The company has two dedicated travel advisor boards, one that consists of agency owners with traditional brick and mortar businesses and another with advisors who are part of a host agency.
“One hundred percent advisors are the key to our innovation and our strategy,” Marks said. “I would actually say that I don't think there's a strategy or innovation we've ever had that didn't start with an advisor conversation. … So, advisor feedback is critical and imperative to how we think about the future investments that we're going to make.”
She went on to say that two of the things ALGV made the biggest investments on started with advisor feedback.
One was in the Service Center, with the development of the Luxe Concierge team and the Premier Destinations Team. These areas were born from advisors needing higher, more elevated service. The other was in the Groups department, with the launch of Group Quote Promise and Best Price Guarantee, which they worked with suppliers to deliver on.
“With advisors, we keep hearing this saying that they do a lot of admin work, and they don't have enough time to sell,” Marks said, and that’s exactly the feedback they’re using in order to focus on enhanced technology and tools. This will help advisors eliminate efficiencies and focus on their relationships with clients.
Using Technology To Make Space for Care
ALG Vacations sees technology as a way to give advisors more time for the human side of their work. Snisky said AI and automation can take tedious tasks off their plates, allowing them to focus on their strengths and provide the care and empathy that technology cannot replace.
“You know, when you look at all things that make up the complex travel industry, it's still a business about people. And it's about people caring for people, and with all that's happening with AI, the technology tools and automation, we look at it a little differently,” he said. “Our purpose is, we care for people so they can be their best. And that's both internally into the company as well as externally. We look at these tools to help free people up, to be able to deliver care.”
Snisky went on to say that when people are at their most confident, they’re operating in their unique ability, and new technology offerings can help advisors focus on those strengths rather than replace them.
“There will never be a technology platform that can that can replace true care and empathy. And so I don't operate with any fear of these folks that are going to create these technological products that are going to eliminate travel advisors and companies like us, but you have to be relevant, and you have to be able to engage them and embrace them and make sure you're putting your best foot forward.”
Kindness Isn’t Going Anywhere
Most travel advisors are familiar with ALGV’s highly sought after Kindness Conference and Kindness Connection, but “Kindness” for this company is much more than a yearly conference; it’s a movement.
“Kindness started out for us as what I call a belief, a belief that we could use our resources and our core values in the way we approach business and bring that to the market,” Marks said. “The belief turned into a movement, and that movement happened because of advisors.”
The movement has snowballed over the past few years into something no one saw coming. Travel advisors have taken the concept into their own communities, and some agencies have even started doing their own giveback events.
“They joined in in a way that exceeded every expectation I ever had. That’s why it became a movement,” Marks said. “They turned it into what they needed and wanted, and they took it and brought it into their communities, into their teams. So it’s such a proud feeling to know that we work within an industry that chooses community over competition, that chooses collaboration, and that genuinely wants to cheer on each other.”
The Kindness movement has grown rapidly since its infancy, and it’s not going anywhere. Beyond its positive impact, Snisky said the movement has made ALGV more approachable and helped the company connect with advisors in a new way.
“We really want to have a big impact on people, and we're well on our way, so we're really excited about that,” he said. “When we lead with our purpose of care and kindness, I think it really, it allowed us to lock arms with travel advisors in a different way.”
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