ALG Vacations ‘Will Be There for You’: Ascend 2026 Wraps Up in Cancun

CANCUN, MX – About 800 travel advisors and 200 supplier partners and other industry leaders gathered in Cancun for the 8^th annual ALG Vacations (ALGV) Ascend Conference from Oct. 21-23.  

Ascend’s 2026 theme, “We’ll Be There for You,” meant ’90s sitcom Friends-themed decor and references galore. But more importantly, it was a way for the packaged travel operator to demonstrate their dedication to “being there for” travel advisors, especially with all the challenges over the past year. 

“This theme this year, in this really tough environment, felt right,” Jacki Marks, ALGV’s global head of trade brands, told media on Friday. “We believe that we have to celebrate the good times [together] and also be with each other in the bad times. 

“Seeing the energy of ‘We’ll Be There for You,’ it just really felt like we have connected on an emotional level at this Ascend that has exceeded what we even planned for. It feels really good to have that energy on the floor with all these advisors.” 

From a solid keynote speech to workshop and general sessions, to fun along the way, here’s some of what advisors took away from the three days with ALGV. 

Business Advice 

Jay Seltz, ALGV’s vice president of trade strategy and performance, gave some sound business tips to advisors to kick off Ascend on Thursday. The gist was to eliminate common barriers to closing the sale by taking advantage of ALGV’s low deposits, selling Travel Protection Plus (TPP) travel insurance, and “bumping up the value” with perks like room upgrades to really “sell the experience.”

ALGV leadership also encouraged advisors to take advantage of the Group Quote Promise when selling weddings and other group trips, because ALGV matches lower group rates from OTAs and offers $500 in bonus commission in these instances.  

Overall, the message was to listen to the client. The term “why-cation” came up during general session, reminding advisors that discovering why their clients are traveling – whether that’s to “set jet,” celebrate, learn a new skill, etc. – truly matters in the selling process.  

Keynote speaker Will Guidara, New York-based restauranteur, co-producer on Emmy-winning TV series The Bear, and author of “Unreasonable Hospitality,” earned a standing ovation from advisors for his speech about how listening intently to his customers transformed his former restaurant, Eleven Madison Park.

“If you want to create a culture of hospitality, you need to find even the smallest ways to make the experience of working with you feel like you’ve just invited them to your home for dinner,” Guidara said. “The little changes matter. Raindrops make oceans. The culmination of the small enhancements, on their own, will become transformational.” 

ALGV Updates 

To free up advisors’ time to perform “unreasonable hospitality” for their clients, ALGV is investing record dollars in technology over the next year, Marks and Group President Ray Snisky revealed during a leadership panel on Thursday. In general session the next day, Snisky also said there would be “tens of millions of dollars invested in technology in the next 18 months.” 

The good news: this money will be for advisor-focused initiatives. Along with parent company Hyatt, ALGV recently commissioned a study by consulting firm McKinsey to learn what technology would benefit ALGV the most. Marks let advisors know that McKinsey came back and said, “you need to spend more money on your travel agent distribution.” 

Therefore, by next year’s Ascend, ALGV should have “really concrete technology advances that you’ve seen that we’re sharing with you that you feel excited about,” Snisky told advisors. 

ALGV’s top three largest markets are Cancun, Dominican Republic, and Jamaica. Despite airline capacity dropping 20% in Cancun this year, the company has gained market share in Cancun and Dominican Republic, while Jamaica still “has all kinds of issues that haven’t been solved yet,” Snisky said.  

Still, “our advanced business going into ’27 has been very, very solid,” he added. 

Some other big updates throughout the conference include: 

• ALGV continues to diversify its product, which is now in 1,800 destinations worldwide. The company provides expertise with premier destination teams that help advisors sell, even outside of ALGV’s core markets in Mexico and the Caribbean. 

• In the two years since Luxe by ALGV‘s launch in 2024, travel advisors sold $413 million in luxury product, which includes 550+ hotels in 200+ destinations. Advisors shared stories of the program’s Luxe Concierge consultants helping them curate extra-special and personalized experiences for their clients. 
  
• ALGV recently added a Tern integration to its platform and will soon also add an Axus integration.

• ALGV’s new advisor portal, which launched in May, has gotten “rave reviews,” Marks said. The new, highly requested Click to Contact feature is expected to launch by the end of the year. 

• ALGV360°, which launched in August, is helping advisors take their branding and marketing to the next level. 

In additon, ALGV’s belief in kindness has grown into a movement “because of advisors,” Marks said. The company has now held an annual Kindness Conference for the past four years, bringing 100 advisors on voluntourism trips each year. In 2026, ALGV expanded this and awarded select advisors with $10,500 each “to take out into their communities and bring the movement into localized areas.” 

Education and Connection 

Advisors connected with and learned from the dozens of suppliers in attendance, either on the trade show floor, in workshops, or at a nighttime event. The conference kicked off on Wednesday evening with a New York City-themed party at Dreams Vista Cancun, where many hugs and catching-up conversations were in order. 

The next two days, advisors learned from the experts at Cancun Center through lively general sessions – which included Friends-inspired skits performed by ALGV leadership, staff, and Travel Advisor Champion Carson Kressley – and informative workshop sessions that covered everything from photography to booking air to legal advice to voluntourism. The conference also had a Genius Bar, where advisors chatted with experts about social media content creation, using Travefy, and getting involved with the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA). 

As the event wrapped up on Friday, Ben Racob, director of education and implementation at ALGV, reminded advisors that “The learning never stops. Staying competitive means staying current.” 

Beyond Ascend, advisors can find both live and on-demand webinars, including “Future Proof Your Travel Business” and “Best of Ascend” on the ALGV website.

The event concluded with multiple heartfelt remarks from the sales team, followed by a Y2K-themed party at AVA Resort Cancun with AIC Hospitality Group.