CANCUN -- More networking, more training and more site inspection opportunities were on the menu at the first of ALG Vacations' new series of "mega-fams," which kicked off here earlier this month.
The fam trip strategy aims to bring larger groups of advisors together fewer times throughout the year to learn about the wholesaler's various products, destinations and brands.
At the four-night Pros on the Go event here, it meant more advisor participants and immersive educational opportunities, workshops and team-building training sessions than previous ALG Vacations fams have offered.
"With all of our events and fams, our goal continues to be education for our travel advisors," said Jacki Marks, global head of trade brands at ALG Vacations. The mega-fams, she said, "have a much larger networking pool than a traditional fam, and [advisors] can share insight or ask questions with even more of their peers."
ALG Vacations will host mega-fams of about 150 travel advisors twice a year, compared to the 20 fams of 10 to 12 advisors each that the company has traditionally hosted annually. The inaugural mega-fam was split between Cancun and Playa del Carmen, and the second will take place June 9 to 13 in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
Kathy Mehring, ALG Vacations' regional sales director for the Midwest and the co-host of the mega-fam, echoed Marks, adding that the larger fam creates more networking opportunities between advisors, while on smaller fams the face time among advisors was sometimes limited because of assigned itineraries.
"Previously with our traditional fam trips, we assigned a host hotel and itinerary, and the agents attended with their individual BDM," Mehring said. But on the mega-fam, "gathering a large group of agents together for a day of training and breaking up into smaller groups for events at their host hotels allowed for more time to network."
The mega-fams share similarities with the brand's flagship ALG Ascend conference, which brings 650 travel advisors together with many of the company's travel partners over the course of a week. But Marks said a mega-fam is very much its own type of gathering.
"It does have the feel of a mini Ascend conference since we also implement workshops and training into the agenda, but it is still very much a fam in the sense of offering that firsthand experience for the advisor," Marks said. Attendees, she added, "have multiple site inspections on the agenda as well as experiencing an excursion with Amstar."
Advisors at the Breathless Riviera Cancun for the four-day ALG Vacations Pros on the Go event, part of a "mega-fam" strategy that the wholesaler launched this year. Photo Credit: Nicole Edenedo
Choice of all-inclusives
More choice was a benefit for advisors during the mega-fam here. They were able to choose which hotels to inspect, training workshops to attend and excursions to join, options they didn't have on previous ALG Vacations fams.
Attendees could choose from several resorts for their accommodations and site inspections, including the Hyatt Zilara Riviera Maya, Hotel Riu Palace Mexico, Iberostar Grand Paraiso, Breathless Riviera Cancun, Secrets Akumal Riviera Maya, Hotel Riu Palace Riviera Maya and Dreams Aventuras Riviera Maya.
Heather Hendrix, ALG Vacations' regional sales director for the East Coast, who co-hosted the mega-fam alongside Mehring, said having advisors pick the hotel to stay in and inspect ensured that they were seeing properties that would be of benefit to them.
"It just really allowed for more flexibility and more options for advisors to get what they needed out of the fam," Hendrix said.
Lindley Diecks, vice president and global travel specialist for Greater Pittsburgh Travel, said the mega-fam offered a more curated selection of resort properties to inspect than fams from other brands. Those trips, she said, sometimes included too many site inspections, making it "hard to remember which resort was which."
"With this mega-fam setup, I really liked that it was a combination of resort tours, seminars and time experiencing the destination," Diecks said.
Lindley Diecks, an advisor with Greater Pittsburgh Travel, holds up a pinata that her advisor team crafted during the ALGV Pros on the Go give-back activity. Photo Credit: Nicole Edenedo
A learning experience
The mega-fam introduced a day of training and workshops that weren't part of ALG Vacations' previous fams. Breakout sessions focused on helping advisors strengthen their businesses and improve sales.
One workshop, titled "In the Money" and led by Mehring and Hendrix, focused on ways advisors can make more money using ALG Vacations programs and tapping its technology.
A workshop hosted by Sandra McLemore, CEO of Travel Marketing & Media, focused on the importance of charging service fees.
Stacee Sevals, an advisor with Travel Leaders based in Rice Lake, Wis., called the training "extremely valuable."
At least one advisor had a suggestion for ALG Vacations. Yolanda Corbin, owner of Luxe Life Travel in Wilmington, Del., said the fam was beneficial but that giving advisors more time to experience the properties and area would elevate the experience. "Make the fams for five days at least," she said.