Martin Johnson has been elected as the new Chairman of the Latin American Travel Association (LATA), replacing Colin Stewart who steps down after six years.

The appointment was announced at the closing ceremony of LATA Expo in London on Wednesday.

Martin, who has been LATA Vice-Chairman since 2012 is the Director and Co-Founder of Latin Routes and Polar Routes.

He is also Chairman of the recently formed Expedition Cruise Network.

Martin said: “When I set up Latin Routes, with my business partner in 2012 and later that year attended my first LATA event, I could only have dreamt of one day being able to call myself Chair of such a fantastic organisation.

“Latin America is without doubt the greatest continent on the planet and I’ve loved travelling there for over 15 years. 

“I look forward to leading LATA in its mission to promote Latin America as the tourist destination of choice and stimulate growth of travel to the region.

“While the pandemic is thankfully now a memory, its effects are still being felt across the LATA membership. I am committed to ensuring that, through a combination of growing the membership and creating opportunities for revenue generation, LATA will continue to secure a successful future.

“Building off the back of LATA’s Sustainability Programme, as chair, I will be absolutely committed to ensuring LATA leads the way for its membership to achieve positive transformation in this area.”