Lata to put UK market at heart of its new responsible tourism vision
The Latin American Travel Association (Lata) has pledged a continued focus on responsible tourism, including a celebration of diversity and inclusion in travel to the continent regardless of age, gender, ability, ethnicity or sexual orientation.
As part of its new vision, rolled out to its membership at the end of March, the association has partnered with Queer Destinations to cement its commitment to the importance of LGBTQ+ rights across the region.
Lata chair Martin Johnson says the partnership was born of a desire within the vision to promote LGBTQ+ rights and help introduce diversity and inclusion policies across all member countries and partners, and a recognition of Queer Destinations’ success elsewhere “to create a safe, welcoming space”.
"That expertise is what we want to tap into," Johnson tells TTG. "Lata will promote their work to destination partners via upcoming webinars but we’re also carrying out wider research on DEI in Latin America."
Queer Destinations chief executive Edgar Weggelaar shares Johnson’s vision and positivity. "In a world where tourism is constantly evolving, it is crucial for destinations and associations to understand the market and seek solutions for significant issues such as discrimination," he says.
"We are convinced this alliance will bring about extraordinary and positive results for the region."
Lata’s vision centres around good-quality travel with a positive impact, Johnson says, and aims to foster a collaborative approach across the membership to showcase best practice.
He explains how Lata’s vision is split across three pillars. "There is the education element," he says. "Lata, as a thought leader, has the opportunity to inspire or educate those that want to learn.
"The second stage is collaboration. We’ve already got some great members who are way ahead in their journeys, and where you’ve got shining examples you use that to educate and collaborate with countries who have potentially got some room for improvement.
"And then there’s the promotion for new people coming into the membership or into selling Latin America.”
The vision brings with it a reinvigorated focus on the UK market, where Johnson says Latin America is not widely sold, but where significant opportunities exist for UK businesses to “join in selling Latin America”.
“Latin American tourist boards have got an opportunity to do more in the UK market," Johnson continues. "We are definitely seeing more activity from some countries, such as Brazil, Peru, Costa Rica, and those are great examples of where other tourist boards can get more benefit out of the UK market.”
Johnson is positive about Latin America’s natural potential for experiential travel, adding indicators from a recent member survey, which currently shows 40% of members reporting higher sales than expected, highlight “demand is definitely there”.
No longer ‘a numbers game’
He adds a benefit of selling Latin America to travellers is longevity. “People do return to Latin America," says Johnson.
"Historically, people tried to do all the highlights of the continent and never go back but that’s not the case now. It’s not positive, it’s not fun – you’re just travelling through different airports – and I think most tour operators in the Lata membership have moved away from that.
“When you sell Latin America, you’ve got opportunities for three, four, five visits. Thats where up-and-coming countries can pick up and where that holistic effect does roll out to less well-known destinations.
“It’s in-depth exploration of multiple locations in a country and Latin America lends itself to that. That travel around has to be managed in a positive way, but then people are going to lots of different parts of that country and therefore that wealth is spreading around the country.”
Responsible tourism remains a focus of the vision, Johnson stresses, evidencing its sustainable travel programme, in partnership with The Long Run, which has developed 50 member organisations so far.
Johnson is clear of the focus of the vision and how it is moving away from the “numbers game” in terms of how Lata measures success.
“Now we’re looking more at spend, particularly how much goes into the local communities that people visit. Latin America has got great examples of where it can make a big difference to a town’s communities and environments. It’s that positive impact we’re wrapping our vision and mission around.
“That’s what we’ll promote to members, as well as opportunities where we can improve it, enhance it or change it for the better."
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