November 2019 Editor’s Note

Hey agents, it’s been a minute, hasn’t it? I’ve been a little M.I.A. since August - my bad!

November not only brings us the beginning of the holiday season (and some very early snow in Wisconsin – woof), but it also brings us winter and Scandinavian content on The Compass. Festive! Before I get into that, let’s look back on some of my favorite pieces from September and October.

• First – the Bahamas are open for business. This may not be common knowledge to people outside of the travel industry, but the Bahamas are actually made up of many islands, and Hurricane Dorian did not affect the entirety of the Bahamas. So the moral of the story is that it’s ok to the go to the Bahamas and if you have any clients who are not feeling it, share this article with them. There’s a nifty map in there to help them understand the real story.
• Apple Leisure Group Vacations’ debut Ascend event was back in September. A little background – this is the event formerly known as The Mark Travel Corporation’s Summit, so it was a good mix of the old and new. The event took place in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania September 16-19 with nearly 500 agents attending. Get the whole scoop on the event from Luke Gibson, the director of VAX.
• Moving on to October (my favorite month), of course I have to remind you of the REAL ID deadline (October 1, 2020) since it’s now less than a year away! Read this, share this, understand it. And make sure you and your clients take care of it.
• Now to more fun things like Halloween and haunted places. Our resident spooky enthusiast and associate editor Jenna Buege crafted some truly frightful pieces for you last year, like Top Destinations for Paranormal Tourism and 5 Haunted Hotels You Can Book on VAX and this year she did not disappoint. She rounded up spooky theme park experiences and even created a whole guide for other paranormal lovers like her.

This month’s winter theme will kick your hygge into full gear so get your wool socks and hot tea ready. Keep your eyes out for a helpful guide to airlines’ snow gear policies, ultimate guides to a few Scandinavian cities, how to get your winter cruise on and lists of domestic ski towns, winter festivals around the world and castles you can visit (or stay in!) in Scandinavia. Though the weather may be getting cold, The Compass content is comin’ in hot.

About the Author

As the managing editor of The Compass on VAX, Andrea is dedicated to delivering valuable, fun and grammatically correct content to her readers (without Oxford commas). Her experience writing and editing in the retail and insurance industries made the move to travel one of the most exciting things to happen in her career. What's the next most-exciting thing for her? Whenever the newest edition of the AP Stylebook comes out.

Follow Andrea on Twitter: @SedlacekAndrea