TAKING OFF
THE MASTERMIND BEHIND THE RESORTS OF THE RIVIERA MAYA
Lori Gold combines her passion for helping and educating travel advisors with her love of supporting the Riviera Maya area .
WORDS / CODIE LIERMANN / PHOTOS COURTESY OF LORI GOLD
If you would have asked Canadian travel professional Lori Gold where she saw herself in 15 years at the start of her career , her answer and the reality of where she is now might not have lined up . She has navigated unexpected twists and turns over the past few years and has not only rolled with the punches but has poured her passion into a new calling she didn ’ t quite know she had .
Gold began working at a travel agency in Canada while she was still in school and has been working in the travel industry ever since . She was living in Riviera Maya when the pandemic hit in 2020 , and since Mexico was one of the first and only places open without restrictions after the shutdown , she began doing site inspections at various resorts and taking notes on the new procedures .
After feeling as if she was spamming different groups with her updates , Gold decided to create her own Facebook group to house this information — and it soon became a crucial resource for travel advisors . Gold attributes the group ’ s early success to the fact that people were “ forced ” to sell Mexico since it was one of the only places welcoming tourists .
“ You have all these agents that were previously selling cruises , Disney , Europe , Asia , whatever the case might be , that needed to learn how to sell Mexico ,” Gold said . “ And this area of Mexico , in particular , has over 170 resorts . So , there ’ s a lot to navigate if you have no idea what you ’ re doing .”
22 / THE COMPASS / SPRING 2023 vaxvacationaccess . com / thecompass