by Eric Bowman
Last updated: 4:30 PM ET, Sun October 25, 2026
ALG Vacations annual Ascend Conference was held in Cancun October 21-24.
We caught up with Ray Snisky, Group President for ALG Vacations, to hear updates on what’s new with ALG Vacations this year.
Snisky shares how the company is investing in technology and using AI, and he also reflects on the five-year anniversary mark of Hyatt acquiring ALG Vacations.
Watch the video above to learn more about ALG Vacations and hear Snisky’s advice for travel advisors.
Full transcript:
Eric Bowman: Hey everyone, I'm Eric Bowman, editor-in-chief for travelpulse.com here at ALGV's Ascend Conference in Cancun, Mexico. I'm with group president Ray Snisky. Thank you so much for having us here, and a lot of excitement here. 1,000 travel industry professionals. The new theme this year is "We'll be there for you," so can you talk a little bit about how that came to be and how you guys are there for travel advisors?
Ray Snisky: Yeah, great. It's great to have you here again, Eric. I appreciate you being here and look forward to seeing your smiling face each and every year. But yeah, 2026 has had some interesting experiences this year. There's been some business challenges along the way, and the team's rallied around, so really the thought of "we'll be there for you," picked up from the Friends show from years ago, has really been for advisors and to be there through good times and tough times.
Eric Bowman: Yeah. Let's talk a little bit more about that, how you guys are there, the products, the tools that you're offering. At Ascend, it's always, we're excited about what's new, what's coming and everything, so talk a little bit about what has you most excited first.
Ray Snisky: Well, most excited is the collaboration to get through this year. You know, there's been all kinds of things with business interruptions. There was the incident in Vallarta. There's been the remnants of the recovery from Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica. There's been TSA lines of four or five hours. There's been business interruptions with airlines, all kinds of things. So in that time, the infrastructure gets tested, and we've worked really, really closely with travel advisors, and a lot of it stemmed on communication and sharing what was true and what was maybe exaggerated in social media about the issues in Mexico, and really taking a leadership position and trying to give them the right information. You can always find a silver lining in tough times like this. In times like this, leaders lead, and we've actually been able to collaborate with travel advisors to create outcomes of more market share in those destinations that were having challenges throughout the year. So, I'm extremely grateful for the travel advisor and all the things they've done to help get both of us through this difficult year.
Eric Bowman: Excellent. You guys are always there for them, and they're always showing up for you guys as they yield a lot of bookings for you and a lot of support. So the tools offering, big ones, technology has been kind of a talking point this Ascend Conference. Can you talk a little bit about that and the enhancements there and what's got you excited for that, investments?
Ray Snisky: Yeah, we've always had a heavy focus on technology with our VAX Vacation Access Platform, but things are really moving at light speed now. So certainly AI, the buzz that's going on in the world and the application of that impact has been great to us, and we've come up with an extensive AI roadmap that we've started on this year, and going into next year it'll be some of the biggest singular technology investments we've ever made. Excited about it, and really with an approach that may be a little different than others in that we're not using AI to reduce staff, and we're not using AI to eliminate parts of distribution. We're using it to really allow people to flourish using their unique abilities. So when I think about a travel advisor whose outstanding unique ability might be selling or engaging their customers or being a destination expert, whatever the case may be, I'd like to have them, instead of using 20% of their unique abilities, remove a lot of those friction parts of the business and really be able to provide them things as far as itinerary builders and removing some of the touch points that tie up a lot of time without providing a lot of great value for them. So it's really with that in mind, to be an accelerant for our travel agency relationships and our advisors.
Eric Bowman: Excellent. So can you talk a little bit more about some of the marketing stuff that you guys offer in helping travel advisors with their brands? I know we got new ALG 360, and then also discounts and offers coming up. A lot of different other tools beyond technology, too, to help.
Ray Snisky: Yeah, I mean, we have a fantastic team that, in addition to the technology work that we're doing on AI, has always led in our marketing efforts to really position the advisor and position them to look very great to their customers. Lots of great content, lots of tools that they can put their logos on and get out to customers, and do it in a manner that we can bring the resources of our entire organization behind that travel advisor and really strengthen their relationship with customers.
Eric Bowman: Excellent. So you talk about the entire organization. We're here on the five-year mark of the acquisition from Hyatt and everything. What's been the biggest game changer there, in your eyes, for the advisor, and what's been the feedback over the years? Because there was a lot coming when the first news broke five years ago, but here we are, and how would you assess them?
Ray Snisky: Yeah. Well, I think it's no secret that when Hyatt acquired ALG, it was really with a primary focus on the all-inclusive hotels and those hotel management agreements, and we kind of came along for the ride at ALGV. A distribution business was not something that Hyatt had owned previously. But we've really been able to flourish in that organization and be able to really leverage our strengths, and learned a lot more from Hyatt on some big items as far as cybersecurity, some of the HR structure, and some of the branding. So it's really worked out very, very well. For example, as we talked about AI, being part of Hyatt allowed us to subscribe with McKinsey to come in and do an AI study for us and really help us build an AI roadmap, which we wouldn’t have done outside of our relationship with Hyatt.
Eric Bowman: Excellent. So what do you hope it yields for the advisors over the next five years?
Ray Snisky: Well, our goal is to continue to provide tools to advisors that let them be on the cutting edge of the industry, and things are moving at light speed right now. So not only the things that'll enhance the business, but the bad guys are rolling at an all-time high level. Security and compliance and making sure that we have a platform that's very safe is really vital for us. But it's to continue to learn and to take all of our efforts and bring those to the forefront for advisors, as I said earlier, where they can focus on their number one priority, which is really taking care of customers, engaging them, and building confidence in going to these destinations, and we can help build a lot of the infrastructure around that for them.
Eric Bowman: Excellent. Furthering ways that you guys are there for travel advisors. For sure. So, last question here. What do you think separates a good travel advisor from a great top-producing one? You've seen a lot of advisors throughout your career, different agency owners, different ICs. What do you think elevates one to be that top-producing level?
Ray Snisky: I think someone that can build confidence, that can really understand that customer. Not all customers are the same size and the same fit, so what you might like might be different than what I might like. Having an advisor who has the right fit product and experience for that customer matched up with them, I think is always a very, very strong asset for them. It isn't always just putting someone in the fanciest hotel, it's putting them in the right experience for them. Those relationships with customers—and we don't always plan for bad times—but if there's one thing that travel advisors have shown us, especially through COVID and beyond, is they're there for their customers 24/7. There's a number of people that were disenfranchised with OTA bookings during that time period that didn't have someone that could help them. Travel advisors had a rejuvenation of their business model by how they took care of customers. So those two are probably the biggest combination.
Eric Bowman: Excellent. Well, thank you so much for the time, Ray. And stay tuned for more from ALGV. They've got Black Friday coming up, a lot of discounts, a lot of things to get you all over the world too. So thank you very much.
Ray Snisky: Thank you so much, Eric. Appreciate it. Appreciate it.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Media to Explore
