Drive lasting impact through tourism with the LATA Foundation
The LATA Foundation supports locally led projects across Latin America that use tourism as a force for positive change.
We are particularly interested in projects that create sustainable economic opportunities for local people, including entrepreneurship, employment, skills development and the growth of locally owned businesses and tourism services. We want to support initiatives that can create lasting change beyond the life of a grant and help communities benefit more directly from tourism.
We also look for opportunities to connect the projects we support with LATA members and the wider tourism industry, helping to create practical links through local suppliers, tourism businesses, training, market access, visits and responsible tourism initiatives.
We work with grassroots organisations that understand their local context and are best placed to deliver lasting impact. Our funding can help strengthen local organisations, develop new opportunities and build their capacity to create sustainable change.
Who can apply?
We welcome applications from locally registered NGOs, charities and community organisations in Latin America with projects that use tourism to create positive social, economic or environmental impact.
Projects should:
- Have a clear and meaningful connection to tourism
- Create or strengthen sustainable economic opportunities, such as entrepreneurship, employment, skills, local businesses or tourism-related livelihoods
- Be locally led, with communities actively involved in shaping and benefiting from the project
- Have the potential to create lasting impact beyond the LATA Foundation grant
- Include clear, measurable outcomes so that impact can be demonstrated
- Have potential to connect with LATA members or tourism businesses, where relevant
Priority destinations
The LATA Foundation welcomes applications from eligible organisations across Latin America. As our funding is limited, we prioritise projects in the destinations most frequently sold by LATA members. Projects elsewhere in Latin America will also be considered. All applications are assessed against our funding criteria and our existing project portfolio.
How does the application process work?
We have introduced a two-stage application process to make it easier for organisations to establish whether their project is a good fit before completing a full funding application.
Stage 1: Initial Eligibility Check
Start by completing our short Initial Eligibility Check. This asks a few questions about your organisation and project and helps us establish whether your proposal meets our basic funding criteria.
Stage 2: Full Application
Projects that meet the initial criteria will be invited to submit a full application, including further information about the project, expected outcomes, budget and the organisation’s recent accounts.
Applications are then assessed by the LATA Foundation Projects Team against our funding criteria and scorecard. The team makes recommendations to the LATA Foundation Trustees, who make the final decision on funding.
2027 funding timeline
For the 2027 funding round:
31 October 2026
Deadline for Stage 1 applications / or applications submitted on the 2026 form before these changes were introduced. Organisations selected from Stage 1 to progress will be invited to complete the full application.
December 2026
Final funding decisions made by the LATA Foundation Trustees.
January 2027
Successful organisations notified and funding agreements put in place.
We may consider projects outside the main funding round where there is a particularly strong application, but our annual funding round is the main route to apply.
Complete the Initial Eligibility Check now
Meeting the eligibility criteria does not guarantee funding. We receive more applications than we are able to support, and projects are assessed against our funding priorities, existing portfolio and the funds available.