ALG Vacations Goes Global: How the Company is Diversifying in New Destinations

ALG Vacations (ALGV) is diversifying its product offerings – and trying to help travel advisors do the same with their own business. 

Most of the packaged travel operator’s production comes from sun and sand vacations in Mexico and the Caribbean; Mexico, Dominican Republic, and Jamaica are its top three destinations. For various reasons, from Hurricane Melissa to violence in Puerta Vallarta, those markets took a hit this year, giving ALGV even more incentive to diversify than ever before. 

At the company’s annual Ascend conference, Group President Ray Snisky confirmed to Travel Market Report that “across the board, a lot of sun and sand are down.” While he’s hopeful for a full rebound, he also acknowledged that “We were clearly over-indexed. You can’t have 70% of your business in two destinations.” 

There are many other reasons that diversification is important at this time. Snisky noted that, after COVID, ALGV saw an uptick in far-flung destinations, such as travelers going to RIU Dubai, following a hotel brand they trust to a new country.  

“Customers started popping up and going to places with us that we never would have dreamed of,” Snisky said. 

Jacki Marks, ALGV’s global head of trade brands, mentioned a “sun and sand fatigue” and economic constraints that have led some people to travel domestically this year. While the company has a solid domestic product line, it’s the global destinations they’re really working to beef up.  

The company now sells 1,800 destinations and counting. Here’s how ALGV is diversifying its product line and helping travel advisors sell those destinations, including Europe, Australia, and Asia. 

Strategies for Diversifying 

In conversation with the media during Ascend, Marks and Snisky spoke about ways that ALGV is helping travel advisors branch out and sell different destinations – and product – than they usually would. ALGV has seen lots of advisors who typically sell Disney start selling other types of vacations with them, as well as steady growth in helping cruise-focused advisors sell pre- and post-cruise land packages. 

“They don’t like having all their eggs in one basket, so we’ve been able to be the conduit to also growing that segment of the business,” Marks said. 

“Talking about a pivot, we went from the company that everyone has all their eggs to one basket to helping other people [coming to us to] not have all their eggs in one basket,” Snisky added. 

ALGV holds educational sessions for travel advisors, teaching them how to sell with ALGV, to get these new advisors on board selling with the company. But beyond their bread-and-butter in Mexico and Caribbean, ALGV wants to be able to share expertise on other parts of the world. 

That’s where ALGV’s Premier Destination Team comes in. This is a team of experts on call for travel advisors who specifically focus on Europe, Asia, and Hawaii. They have thousands of destination-specific training hours, can help advisors build itineraries, and have satisfaction scores of over 95% from advisors. 

“We want to be travel advisors’ first choice for Europe and other long-haul destinations, no different than we are in the Caribbean,” said Jay Seltz, vice president of trade strategy and performance. “But we know we’re not there, right? We need to continue to invest.” 

Those investments are coming soon with major technology upgrades that ALGV leadership also spoke about during Ascend. By having upgraded booking solutions, advisors will be able to build more complex itineraries that typically come with going to places like Europe, Asia, or Australia. Another big topic of discussion was adding rail to ALGV’s product – a goal of the company’s that will be made easier with technology. 

Finally, ALGV is hoping to help advisors sell more long-haul destinations by continuing to offer Travel Protection Plus (TPP). Since these trips are more expensive, “protecting your client’s investment is critically important,” Seltz said. TPP offers cancel for any reason (CFAR) and commission protection benefits, making it easier to sell longer-haul trips. ALGV also offers competitive low deposit policies, another attractive component for advisors when selling. 

Europe and Beyond 

During Ascend, ALGV hosted two workshop sessions that covered the company’s product offerings and really dug deep into its “Road to Europe and Beyond” initiative: “Europe’s Hidden Gems: Designing Memorable Journeys” and “Asia & the South Pacific: Must-Know Highlights.” 

Ben Schmig, ALGV’s senior manager of supplier engagement, who leads product strategy outside Mexico and the Caribbean, facilitated the informational session. The company continues to add hotel, flight, transfers, tours, and tools and training in new destinations, and Schmig is at the forefront of those efforts. He encourages advisor feedback and suggestions about where ALGV should go next.

“It’s been an evolution, and it will continue to be. But we have been hard at work, really, for the past five or six years, trying to massively overhaul, enhance, and improve our product line,” he told advisors. “We’re getting a lot of feedback from you guys, which we greatly appreciate. Keep that coming. We know it truly is constant evolution.” 

In Europe, ALGV highlighted London, Bath, and Edinburgh in Great Britain; Lisbon, Portugal, and Madeira in Portugal, and the island of Malta, as top destinations where ALGV currently has robust product line. Malta has been growing in demand in recent years, even more recently because parts of Game of Thrones and The Odyssey were filmed there. 

Speaking of “set-jetting,” ALGV also recommended Thailand, the setting of the most recent season of The White Lotus, where travelers can visit Bangkok, Chang Mai, and Phuket. They also recommended Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka in Japan, as well as Sydney, Cairns, and Alice Springs/Uluru in Australia. 

While those are the most popular, ALGV has recently added product in newer destinations such as Oakham, England; Obidos, Portugal; and Novigrad, Croatia in Europe; and Cam Ranh, Vietnam; Gili Air Island, Indonesia; and Napier, New Zealand; as well as several others, as the company continues “filling in the gaps.” 

Ben Racob, director of education and implementation, also helped with the presentation, showing advisors how to book more complex trips on VAX Vacation Access, ALGV’s booking platform.  

He thanked advisors for “branching out and exploring something new.”