Changing Lives One Trip at a Time: Inside ALG Vacations’ Jamaica Give Back FAM

One hundred travel advisors. Over $13,000 in donations. Dozens and dozens of boxes packed tight with school supplies, fresh socks, toothpaste, dog food, and other essential everyday items that we often take for granted here in the U.S. and Canada — items the people of Jamaica desperately need after enduring Hurricane Melissa last October.

The impact of the ALG Vacations Come Back to Give Back Jamaica Voluntourism FAM was immediate and obvious. Travel advisors from all over the U.S. flew to the Caribbean island for four days of volunteer work, site inspections, networking, and celebration, all in recognition of the unbreakable spirit of the Jamaican people.

Travel Market Report was invited to participate in the FAM, and see firsthand both how the country’s tourism has recovered and how help is still needed and deeply appreciated.

Jamaica reopened its doors to tourists on Dec. 15, 2025, just a few weeks after the hurricane ripped through the country. In that time, the small island nation has welcomed over 500,000 visitors, representing $750 million in tourism income.

The Hon. Edmund Bartlett, Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, delivered a rousing speech on the FAM’s opening night, reminding the travel advisors in attendance that while Melissa may have dealt a devastating blow, his country refuses to stay down for long:

“We Jamaicans, we are little, but we are tallawah … little, small, but we are powerful. We are strong. We are indomitable. We have a spirit that is unbroken … We said tourism is not going to be broken by Melissa … We are not only going to recover, [but] we are going to thrive, and we’re going to have a V-shaped recovery of tourism in Jamaica.”

Hotels and resorts may be functioning normally, but there is still work to be done. Homes need new roofs. Dogs need to be relocated. Families are in dire need of food and household items like toilet paper and diapers. ALGV’s voluntourism trip was created with this mission in mind; the advisors came carrying suitcases full of donations, and spent hours volunteering to help with recovery efforts.

“You came as a powerful force of volunteerism to give back to the people of Jamaica,” said Bartlett.

In addition to the event itself, ALGV is also accepting financial donations for Jamaica’s recovery. So far, travel advisors and their networks have raised $13,000, which will be doubled, thanks to ALGV’s pledge to match donations dollar-to-dollar. This money will go towards new playground equipment, water heaters, building supplies, and much, much more.

In an exclusive interview with TMR, Jacki Marks, the global head of trade brands, said she was overwhelmed by the love and support she witnessed for Jamaica from the travel advisor community.

“This [FAM] has exceeded my expectation, and I had a very high expectation for what I thought we could do,” said Marks. “I never thought one advisor would bring 12 suitcases, you know, and there were several advisors who brought eight suitcases, 10 suitcases, 12 suitcases … [the advisors] brought everything that we could have ever imagined and more. It was overwhelming.”

Changing Lives Through Voluntourism

The ALGV Jamaica voluntourism FAM changed lives for the people of Jamaica, but it also changed the lives of the travel advisors who participated.

For Meika Cole, a self-identified Jamerican and frequent visitor, the ALGV FAM presented an opportunity to help a country she cares deeply for. The owner of Travel N Bags has been visiting the country regularly for six years straight, having last visited in July 2025, just months before Melissa hit. The destination has been her best-selling destination for the past five years.

Cole told TMR the ALGV trip was filled with highs and lows: she was happy to see how much the country has already bounced back, but was also moved by the sheer amount of gratitude and resilience the Jamaican people demonstrated.

“It was a real sense of gratitude and a real welcoming spirit,” said Cole.

Stephanee Hughson, founder of the travel agency Plans in Paradise, was also motivated to participate in the Give Back FAM because of her personal history with the country.

“It was really neat to be able to be a part of something so much bigger than ourselves,” said Hughson. “I’ve always loved Jamaica. It was the first place I ever flew to … when you see everyone come together, community over competition, you can feel it in your bones.”

For Hannah Hofstetter, a former school teacher who started selling travel a year ago as HH World Travel, ALGV’s Jamaica Give Back trip was her very first FAM. She told TMR she wanted to participate because she was in Turks during Hurricane Melissa and understood how significantly the storm battered the region.

Overall, she said the biggest takeaway of the trip was seeing how much tourism helps the country. Not only does it bring in tourism dollars, but it also presents an opportunity for travelers to bring much-needed — and much-appreciated — items to donate.

“I wish we could do it again, you know, seeing how much the donations meant to them and how much they needed. I would like to fill another six suitcases to send back,” said Hofstetter.

Colleen Otto, owner of the Florida-based agency Tropical Breeze Travel, said the FAM was a unique experience, telling TMR that she arrived knowing almost no one and left having forged new and meaningful relationships.

“You always learn something on any FAM trip, but learning you can help others just makes you feel better,” said Otto.

How Travel Advisors Can Continue to Give Back to Jamaica

The trip served another purpose as well: reminding the travel industry that Jamaica isn’t destroyed. The FAM included 13 site inspections of resorts in Montego Bay, Negril, and Ocho Rios. The properties were all fully functional and in good repair, with some operating at over 90% capacity at the time of the visit.

Marks told TMR that it’s more important now, more than ever, that travel advisors continue to sell Jamaica as a destination.

“We have to support those that support us,” said Marks. “So if we don’t come into these destinations and support them in a time of need, they’re not going to be there when our clients need them. So beyond just being the right thing to do, it’s a requirement for this travel ecosystem to work.”

The ALGV Jamaica Voluntourism FAM had over 1,300 travel advisors express interest in attending, and the Facebook live event they hosted on-site was viewed by over 6,000 advisors in the first 48 hours. Clearly, the travel advisor community wants to help, and Marks said ALGV wants to help make that happen.

“The overwhelming response from the travel advisor community told me that we were onto something, which meant I knew I had the love and support of our advisors to build something really big,” said Marks.

In addition to the donation link above, the tour operator is also offering independent FAMs for the advisors who want to participate in Jamaica’s recovery. These involved offering hotel stays and more at a discount for advisors, who create their own itineraries directly with Amstar.

“If somebody really wants to come into a destination and maybe they want to see three hotels, then we’re providing the discount in order to get them here,” said Marks.

Overall, the trip seems to have left a lasting impression on Marks as well. The global head of trade brands has not been shy about sharing how personal this mission is for her.

“I’ve been doing this for 30 years, and I have been to Jamaica more times than I can even remember or count. And every experience I’ve had with the people of Jamaica has touched my heart. The community of Jamaica is just a very, very special group of people.”