The Latin American Travel Association (Lata) has announced that the 2021 edition of its flagship event, Lata Expo, will now go ahead in a virtual format rather than the live event originally planned.
The virtual event will take place across a five-day period from 11-15 October 2021 with the format following a similar pattern to last year’s event, such as a shorter timetable designed to accommodate the time difference between the UK and Latin America.
The programme will focus on pre-scheduled one-to-one meetings between exhibitors and suppliers, as well as keynote seminars and insight into important travel and consumer trends impacting the region.
Lata also confirmed the 2022 instalment will be held as a live event at London’s Battersea Evolution from June 13-15 next year.
Lata Expo is Europe’s largest B2B Latin America-dedicated trade show and facilitates trade between European travel trade operators and Latin American suppliers.
Danny Callaghan, chief executive of Lata, said: “We understand the importance of Lata Expo and the role it plays in facilitating trade between European travel trade operators and Latin American suppliers, many of whom are Lata members, and so we wanted to be able to provide exhibitors and buyers with the guarantee that the event will go ahead.
“The added degree of certainty that deciding to make it a virtual event brings allows us to plan accordingly and this, coupled with key learnings from last year’s event, will hopefully allow us to emulate the successes of Lata Expo 2020.
“We are at a critical moment for the Latin American travel industry, and we hope that this decision will give our members confidence that Lata will deliver its flagship trade show.”