LATA chairman, Colin Stewart, speaks to Travel Bulletin about what agents can expect at this weeks LATA Expo 2021
We are delighted to be hosting LATA Expo 2021 this year in virtual format, from October 11 to 15, 2021. There is no denying that the travel sector has been hit hard by the pandemic and by now, we had hoped that travel from the UK to Latin America would have resumed.
This year, LATA Expo been designed to stimulate trade within the Latin American travel sector and provide essential insight for attendees. We know that agents will form an integral part in the travel recovery to the region and for that reason, this year we have included a specific agent section within the LATA Expo show programme.
Agents will not only have access to the daily seminars and content sessions that feature as part of the overall programme but will also have a dedicated training programme that has been designed to grow the knowledge of Latin America amongst the travel trade. At LATA, we want to engage with agents from all over the UK and understand how best to support to be able to increase destination confidence.
This year, the core theme of LATA Expo will be ?Ready for Restart? meaning that content sessions and seminars will be tailored around providing participants with all the information and tools they need to successfully restart operations as international travel slowly begins to resume.
Other content sessions will cover how to adapt to rapidly evolving consumer demands (including feedback from the Travel Bulletin agents), decarbonising travel, animal welfare in travel and the importance of biodiversity in the post-covid world, as well as future gazing sessions which will feature trends, statistics and green shoots.
Despite ongoing travel restrictions impacting the region, we believe there are many attributes that will tempt back travellers to Latin America in a post-pandemic context.
Finally, I would like to give a mention to our charity, the LATA Foundation. Given the impact of the pandemic, in 2019 we set up a COVID appeal to support those most in need. One of our most successful campaigns was raising money for out-of-work porters in Peru who were directly impacted by the lack of tourism. Our efforts supported 92 porters and their families with basic food parcels for one year. We have also helped a number of other grassroots initiatives in Peru and Bolivia.
