In late June, Trust My Travel’s General Manager, Karen King, and Head of Sales and Support, Melanie Ratcliffe, packed their bags and headed to Berkshire to attend the 2024 Latin American Travel Association (LATA) Expo.

LATA Expo, which started as Experience Latin America, has been a key event for the Latin American tourism industry for the last decade. But the 2024 event was a particularly special one. It was a more intimate affair than previous events, with just 100 exhibitor places and some new and exciting offerings, including a gala dinner, achievement awards and late-night bars. Held at the De Vere Beaumont Estate, an 18th-century Georgian house just outside historic Windsor, the event had a personal and boutique feel to it. 

Sunday 23rd June:

Upon arriving at the De Vere Beaumont Estate, Melanie commented on the stunning surroundings. “It was a really beautiful ride past the River Thames to enter the lovely grounds of the hotel,” she said. After settling into their rooms, Melanie and Karen tried something they hadn’t done before—duck herding. About the experience, Melanie said, “It’s not as easy as it looks. Those ducks are clever!” Next time you need a group of ducks herding, you know who to call.

But the fun and games didn’t end there because Karen tried her hand at archery. When asked about how she did, she said, “I tried, I failed, and I laughed at myself!” Melanie was less enthusiastic about the archery than the duck herding and chose to observe Karen’s archery session…from a safe distance.

After their duck herding and archery sessions, Karen and Melanie went to the hotel’s historic chapel for the evening welcome event and, much to their surprise, found themselves being serenaded by a four-person acapella group. Quite the welcome! Afterwards, the pair headed out to the lawn to network with other attendees under the early evening summer sun.

 

Monday 24th June: 

Monday morning marked the official start of the Expo. With a spring in their step, the pair headed to the conference bright and early. The Trust My Travel stand caught the attention of many delegates, and Karen and Melanie were able to discuss our mission to protect travel payments with interested travel providers. “I had met some lovely people and had positive conversations with delegates who wanted to know more about our financial failure and merchant account solutions,” Karen said.

But it wasn’t just Trust My Travel’s layered protection solution attracting people’s attention. Batak was a real crowd-pleaser, too. “I cannot begin to tell you about the sweat and tears over this competitive game,” Melanie said. “It all started with fun. People tested their reaction times as they stood and discussed our solutions at the stand. Then, as the temperature outside reached 30 degrees, things heated up at the stand too. It was clear that a few attendees had their sights on the Fortnum & Mason hamper prize!”

In between conversations with other attendees, Karen and Melanie attended several talks. Karen said that she found Errol Lawson’s sessions particularly thought-provoking. In it, he explored the ‘Art of Being Brilliant’, sharing his inspiring message that no matter where you come from or what challenges you face, you have the power to create the life you want.

 Another welcome addition to the 2024 event was the Women in Travel session, which featured a panel of senior women from the LATA membership. The session explored the current state of gender equality in Latin American travel sector leadership, and panellists shared their inspiring career stories and offered insights to delegates.

After a busy day of watching talks, highlighting Trust My Travel’s mission to protect travel payments (and watching Batak bring out attendees’ competitive side), Karen and Melanie headed to the gala dinner and achievement awards. They enjoyed celebrating the achievements of fellow travel industry colleagues. “Some really great awards were handed out, and the Latin American group were so supportive of each other’s successes,” Karen said.

But dinner and awards weren’t the only thing on the agenda, as attendees were treated to Ecuadorian entertainment. It’s clear that this was a real highlight for the pair, with Karen recalling, “There was a cute kid in a traditional costume, and you cannot miss the dancing guinea pig!”

Tuesday 25th June:

Tuesday was another scorcher of a day, filled with thought-provoking workshops and meetings, interspersed with coffee breaks and some great food. When the evening rolled around, Melanie and Karen headed outdoors to enjoy the LATA Expo Festival. They were delighted to find an incredible spread, including stone-baked pizzas, paella and an ice cream van—a winning combination if there ever was one! A festival they were promised, and a festival they got. Karen said she enjoyed playing Hook a Duck and trying her luck with the Coconut Shy, but not before enjoying a well-deserved Mr Whippy with Melanie in the evening sun.

Alongside traditional fairground games, Karen and Melanie stumbled upon another game of Batak that was really heating up. “It was here that the Batak game really picked up pace… after sunshine and beer, the competition got real,” Melanie said. “It became quite clear that we had three winners, playing head-to-head. In the last two minutes of play, the winner took a two-point lead. The room erupted in cheers—it was a very well-deserved win!”

Wednesday 26th June:

And just like that, the last day of the conference arrived. Before they were scheduled to leave the venue, there was one last session to attend: the Sustainable Tourism Conference. Talks explored the business cases for sustainability, what a sustainable, purpose-led business looks like, implementing change through collaboration and embedding sustainability into business operations. After a thought-provoking morning and a delicious lunch, Melanie and Karen said their goodbyes and made their way back to Rutland to tell the Trust My Travel team all about the fantastic event.

LATA Expo 2024 brought together individuals and companies from across the travel industry to explore the wealth of opportunities waiting to be realised within the Latin American tourism sector. Not only were Karen and Melanie able to showcase Trust My Travel’s many benefits for travel providers, but they also met dozens of new people and had a brilliant time. LATA Expo 2024 won’t soon be forgotten