Experience Latin America (ela) by the Latin American Travel Association (www.lata.travel), the three day B2B event dedicated to Latin America, has strengthened its commitment to protecting the environment by going green in 2018 with a number of new sustainability measures.
Taking place from 11-13 June 2018 at the CCT Venues in London, ela will be working towards providing a responsible and sustainable travel event with a number of new sustainability measures. These will include dedicated ‘green ela’ branding featuring a new ‘green logo’, removing all plastic cutlery, reducing food wastage, and introducing a ‘zero collateral footprint policy’ to limit the number of brochures and marketing materials brought to the event, in a bid to encourage good practice amongst all attendees.
The initiative has been implemented as part of the Latin American Travel Association’s strategy to continue to grow environmental awareness, to propel eco-tourism to the top of the agenda for UK travellers and to encourage its members to adopt an eco-sensitive approach to travel in Latin America.
As part of this initiative, LATA is also developing a LATA Sustainability Charter, which will be revealed at Experience Latin America, outlining a number of sustainability principles which, the organisation will be asking all its members to implement.
Sustainability continues to be a main priority for the Latin American travel industry with many local companies and tourist boards pioneering in sustainable initiatives. For example, in 2017 the Nicaragua tourist board was awarded with a ‘sustainable and responsible tourism award’ by LATA for the country’s tourism strategy which stands in line with a model of sustainable development. Furthermore, many LATA members and Experience Latin America exhibitors such as the Alto Atacama Desert Lodge & Spa, Ecocamp Patagonia, and the Costa Rican tourism board, have demonstrated their dedication to the environment by working with eco guidelines designed to inspire sustainable travel in the region.
Colin Stewart, Chairman of LATA comments: “Environmental issues and eco-tourism is a key focus for many Latin American tourist boards and Latin American travel companies many of which are LATA members, and also pioneers in the field. The new sustainable measures at Experience Latin America highlight our dedication to protecting the environment. LATA will continue to inspire its members to adopt ‘green’ measures in order to raise awareness of sustainable travel and encourage companies to adopt an eco-approach to travel”.
