The three-day event, which brings Latin American suppliers together with UK buyers, is being held between June 10 and 12 at Chelsea Football Club. The final day of the event will focus on the theme of ‘Transformation at the Intersection of Luxury and Sustainability’.

The event will give the chance for more than 5,600 meetings between 150 exhibitors and 400 buyers, the latter made up of both UK trade buyers as well as European buyers.

The luxury segment of the event is being sponsored by Brazil (EMBRATUR) and the Brazil Luxury Travel Association. As well as business sessions, delegates will also attend roundtable discussions focussed on that day’s theme.

Colin Stewart, chairman of Latin American Travel Association (Lata), said: “We are pleased to be welcoming the sixth edition of Ela with a new seminar format aimed at providing a strong and effective platform for discussions centred on specific themes including wellbeing, adventure, and luxury. 

“Seminars on the third day of Ela will be dedicated to creating a dialogue about the ever-growing luxury tourism industry in Latin America. 

“Luxury travel has steadily grown in popularity and importance in recent years. According to the ITB World Travel Trends Report 17/18, high-end travel ranges around 7% of the tourism market, and is a number which continues to grow.”

Stewart said Latin America has seen a range of new four- and five-star hotels opening in recent years including Awasi Iguazu, explora’s El Chalten hotel in Patagonia and Mountain Lodges of Peru’s new Art House in Peru. Belmond also introduced the first luxury sleeper train in Latin America. 

He said the luxury seminar would educate agents on the wealth of product in Latin America.

He added: “The luxury seminar will be introduced to educate travel agents, as well as members of the Latin America tourism industry about the development and importance of luxury travel in the region, with the aim of providing the know-how to cater for this important travel segment.”

Agents wanting to register to attend Ela should visit experiencelatinamerica.travel