Peru readies for Paddington: 8 takeaways from Lata Expo 2024
Katherine MastersThe 11th edition took place yesterday at the De Vere Beaumont Estate in Windsor, welcoming more than 100 exhibitors from across Latin America, and TTG was there to capture the highlights
1. Lata means business…
Lata’s new-look Expo, incorporating a conference programme for the first time, and the return of the Lata Achievement Awards and gala dinner, was accompanied by the announcement of the Latin America 2030 project.
Chairman Martin Johnson explained that a one-year consultation with Lata’s 400-strong membership would help shape a new strategy. “Through workshops, surveys, roundtables and focus groups, we will ask our members for their ambitions, their concerns and challenges. At Lata 2025, we will share that vision and create a strategy for how we promote Latin America as a leading responsible, sustainable tourism destination by 2030,” he said.
Lata is also searching for a new business development manager, who will have two key responsibilities, expanding the membership and looking after existing members.
“With our expanded membership, we will also be developing a comprehensive agent strategy,” promised Johnson.
2 … and means to do good
By extension of this, we also learnt that it’s a big year of change for the Lata Foundation. The charity used up a lot of its reserves supporting Latinos through the pandemic, such as porters with its Peru 25for25 challenge to raise funds for out-of-work Inca Trail porters.
“Now we want to relook at what we do and what we want for the future,” said trustee Megan Parkinson.
In the past the Foundation has supported a wide spectrum of projects such as medical projects and dance schools, but Parkinson explained that all projects supported from now on will have a tourism focus, “ensuring we are using tourism as a focus for good,” she said.
Stringent criteria will ensure projects fit the new criteria: “It’s a constant challenge, supporting as many regions as possible, while making sure our money makes a real difference,” she added.
The Foundation is also seeking to employ its first paid member of staff, on a part-time basis, to support fundraising and administrative efforts. “We have 400 members of Lata and we want to harness the power of that network,” said Parkinson.
3. Peru is ready to embrace Paddington
PromPeru is looking forward to the November UK release of Paddington in Peru, the third film in the popular series. “We’re incredibly happy that such a big production has the name of our country in its title – it will be a big boost for us,” said Andres Duany, business development manager, PromPeru London.
The timing is something of a gift, with Peru yet to achieve its pre-pandemic figures from the UK. The pandemic was followed by some negative press for the destination, Latam suspended its new flight earlier this year shortly after its launch, and British Airways has not brought back the Lima service it dropped during Covid.
“We’re working with airlines to improve connectivity to Peru and within Peru, and we are hoping that will help numbers go up again. To get a direct flight with either Latam or British Airways would certainly be a bonus, but we believe the destination is strong enough to fully recover without a direct flight,” Duany said.
4. The region needs to work on DEI
TTG Media’s content producer Tom Parry presented some stark figures that provided context to a panel discussion on diversity, equity and inclusion.
Most worryingly for the region, Latin America came last when compared with other regions of the world in a survey where TTG asked its agent audience about the destinations they would be confident in selling to minority groups, such as customers with physical disabilities, religious needs and the LGBTQ community.
Edgar Weggelaar, chief executive, Queer Destinations, shared a positive case study, from his company’s work in Los Cabos. “When we started five years ago, LGBTQ travellers made up just 0.5% of overall visitor numbers to Los Cabos and there were no gay-friendly bars. That has now changed to 20%, eg one in five travellers to Los Cabos in 2024 identifies as LGBTQ. With training and feedback, we were able to change minds completely.”
Simon Miller, founder, Enable My Trip, made a plea for suppliers to communicate more clearly how they cater for accessible travellers. “If you do cater for this market, get your message out there and make it more visible. Put pictures of your accessible bathrooms on your website.” His company provides a portal for such information, but he stressed he was reliant on suppliers offering it up.
Amrit Singh, founder and director of TransIndus, urged travel companies to prioritise diversity within their own teams: “Without that, it’s very hard to add that diversity to your product range,” she said.
She also highlighted how catering for diverse audiences required effort to find out the customers’ requirements and how that compared with perceptions in the destination, as TransIndus had done to help the Jewish community travel more comfortably. “You need to ease that mismatch and connect the two sides together,” she said. “We’ve built our Jewish market from humble beginnings but it took a lot of research and communication,” she added.
5. Google AI is accelerating rapidly
A polished presentation from Google travel industry managers Amelie Matuschka and Ajesh Patel pitched artificial intelligence as the third shift after the introduction of the internet and mobile. They explained how Google is using AI to reimagine its core products, such as Immersive View for Google Maps and Magic Eraser for Google Photos. They also highlighted how AI assistant Google Gemini could provide a new trip planning experience, gathering information from search, maps and Gmail to create dynamic itineraries. Other examples included Beacon AI, which provides route optimisation for pilots, and Volantio, which helps airlines better forecast demand and revenue.
“An AI first approach starts with you,” said Matuschka. “It’s like driving on a day when every light turns green, but you are in the driving seat. Don’t view this technology as a threat, it’s an opportunity and an exciting time for travel.”
6. Empower women, fight the climate crisis
Latin America is by no means unique in this, but women employed in tourism in the region tend to fill the entry level roles in the food and accommodation sectors, which pay low wages and provide little long-term security. And those women who do achieve more senior roles face judgement and unconscious bias.
Ivonne Zumarraga, managing director, Golden Galapagos Cruises, co-founded her business in a field dominated by men. “I am a working mum, I travel a lot, it’s my passion, and people ask me, who’s taking care of your child – we don’t ask that question to men,” she said.
Sarah Bradley, managing director, Journey Latin America said the industry could help empower women by looking at their supply chain: “Make sure you support businesses that promote gender equality and diversity, rather than merely picking a supplier because they have the product you need.”
Alessandra Alonso, founder, Women In Travel CIC made the point that educating and employing women meant there was less chance they would marry at a young age and have more children, which puts less pressure on the world’s resources.
“We can fight the climate crisis through women, and through the education of children,” she said.
7. Ecuador is focused on recovery
The Ecuador Ministry of Tourism is also eyeing recovery, with UK figures impacted by media reports covering the government’s war on drug traffickers. “The government is facing the issue, it had to be done,” said Santiago Granda, promotion undersecretary.
“However, this war on drug traffickers is focused in very specific areas, and there are no curfews or militarisation in Quito, Quayaquil or Cuenca. The violence is between gangs, fighting for territory, civilians are not affected. There have been zero incidents with travellers and Ecuador remains a welcoming country.”
Granda promised that Ecuador will be ready to go strong in 2025, with a new international campaign, fam trips, and new trade-facing representation in the UK.
8. Latin America embodies the true meaning of hospitality
Extreme adventure filmmaker James Levelle inspired the room with stories from his 10,000km, 70-day journey around Latin America, to film Free Ride for the Discovery Channel with US adventurer Rob Greenfield. The catch – they travelled without cash, cards or mobile phone. “The point of it all, to minimise our impact and have an adventure,” he said.
Finding he was hungry the entire time, sourcing food became his number-one priority. He tried “dumpster diving”, which had worked for Greenfield in the US. “But credit to the good folk of Latin America, they don’t waste food,” he said. They foraged, they raided markets for not so fresh food, and they tried eating other people’s leftovers in restaurants: “But most restaurant owners would not allow it, their kindness and hospitality made it a no-go, and they’d serve us their dish of their day.”
And that was the overarching message from his presentation, the “relentless kindness” they experienced, which meant, no matter how tough the journey became, “a friendly Latin American would always come to our aid”, which saw the duo offered accommodation from jungle treehouses to locker rooms (which turned out to be a toilet floor).
“The success of our adventure was down to strangers, whose enthusiasm, positivity and kindness was the rocket fuel that powered us forward. It was such an incredible education into what hospitality really means.”
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