The Latin America Travel Association is to run its 2021 Expo as a face-to-face event in an effort to reinvigorate the region’s tourism industry.
Next year’s Expo will include additional travel agent involvement.
The B2B show is to be staged in London on June 14-16 at Battersea Evolution.
It is being touted as the first opportunity for exhibitors and buyers to meet face-to-face since the Covid pandemic after this year’s exhibition was held as a virtual event.
LATA chairman Colin Stewart said: “Following the success of this year’s virtual edition of LATA Expo, we want to build on this momentum and are pleased to have officially launched LATA Expo 2021.
“We know how eager our members are to meet face-to-face with key buyers from the UK and Europe, re-establishing old relationships and making new ones in what will be a critical time in reinvigorating the Latin American tourism industry.
“It’s also important for us to develop ways to incorporate agents into our flagship event building on our travel agent engagement strategy.
“We’re very excited to be working with an excellent venue in Battersea Evolution and we’re confident that it gives us the opportunity to build on the successes of previous LATA Expo/Experience Latin America events.”
LATA plans a series of agent roadshows next year in partnership with a host of Latin American destinations.
The plans follow almost 50 agents attending a training event on Colombia.
Stewart added: “We are delighted to have hosted the first in a series of events that are designed to engage the UK travel trade with our Latin American destinations and hope that future travel agent trainings are as successful as this inaugural one, held in partnership with ProColombia.
“It has been LATA’s goal to work more closely with the travel trade to enable them to have the knowledge and the tools to appropriately sell Latin America to the UK consumer.”