EDITOR ’ S NOTE
2021 is definitely one for the history books — for many reasons .
I don ’ t want to revisit any of those not-sogreat things and would rather be grateful for the good things that did happen in 2021 and look forward to 2022 .
First , travel came surging back . In a big way . In March , VAX ’ s website traffic peaked to levels we hadn ’ t seen since 2019 . People were traveling . Travel advisors were booking . It was a rush of relief .
Then we brought back The Compass Magazine , the very thing you ’ re reading right now . After debuting the magazine in April 2020 , we decided to hold off on the next issue for a bit while we regrouped . The industry had changed so much from our debut issue and we wanted our sophomore effort to be just as good . The spring 2021 issue came out in May and we felt the same fluttery excitement and pride as we did with our very first issue . I hope that feeling never goes away .
In-person industry events returned , and we went to some ! This was our chance to share The Compass Magazine with travel advisors face-to-face . After so long doing everything virtually , including reading The Compass , we were thrilled to share the magazine with you all in-person . And you loved it .
In this issue , we ’ ll continue to look back at 2021 , but focus on the good . We ’ ll highlight the people , places and things that made a big , positive impact on the year . You know we love our data , so we ’ re taking a data-driven look at today ’ s travel advisor , using insights from our annual travel advisor survey . We also want to take an
Andrea Sedlacek
MANAGING EDITOR Andrea believes the best way to gain perspective is to travel .
introspective glance at the behind-the-scenes legislative work being done on behalf of travel and travel advisors . We had some big advocates in 2020 and 2021 that you may not even realize .
As we look ahead , we ’ ll visit the Canary Islands to learn why it ’ s becoming the next new hot spot ( besides the obvious fact that it ’ s a gorgeous destination ). We also want to help you make your office inclusive and help you find the right accountant for your business needs .
Let ’ s welcome 2022 with a fresh perspective and make it another defining year — but for different reasons . We can do this .
“ We ’ ll continue to look back at 2021 , but focus on the good .”
12 / THE COMPASS / WINTER 2021 vaxvacationaccess . com / thecompass