Critical Divide’s Chris Pickard spoke on behalf of the LATA Foundation at the reception hosted by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Latin America and the Latin American Travel Association in the Palace of Westminster on 21 March 2013.
The event provided a platform for the LATA Foundation, LATA’s charitable arm, to highlight some of the key charity initiatives being funded across Latin America and to appeal for new donors from the sector to help secure the £60,000 deficit needed to continue to provide the same level of funding for those most-in-need in 2024 and beyond.
Hosted by MP Mark Menzies, chairman of the All-Party-Parliamentary-Group for Latin America, and Colin Stewart, chairman of the Latin American Travel Association (LATA), the ceremony brought together MPs and Peers, Latin American ambassadors, diplomats, LATA members, key media, and the wider UK travel industry.
The event celebrated the resilience of the Latin American travel industry following the COVID-19 pandemic and recognised leading personalities who have contributed most significantly to the positive images of Latin America in the United Kingdom.
This year, the late Derek Moore was inducted into the LATA Hall of Fame. A well-loved character of the UK travel industry, Moore worked as an overland tour guide before co-founding Explore Worldwide in 1981. Later, he became the chairman of the Association of Independent Tour Operators (AITO) and established the Derek Moore Foundation to promote sustainable economic growth and empowerment in socially and economically disadvantaged communities.
The special recognition award was given to journalist and author Chris Moss who has long been a passionate supporter and advocate of Latin America. During the pandemic period when Latin America was largely forgotten by the British press, Moss continued to fly the flag for the region, not only placing inspiring travel content but also illustrating important nuances between destinations when blanket travel restrictions were in place. Through his writing, he helped illustrate the reality of the travel restrictions on some of the often-forgotten members of the travel industry, such as the tour guides in Bolivia and Peru and the boat captains of the Galapagos, as well as taxi drivers, restaurant and hotel owners and fisherman amongst others.
Standing at the critical divide 