"Last January 234,050 visitors entered the country, 13,248 more than in January 2011 or a growth of 6%. However, this growth represents a decrease of six percentage points compared to growth between January 2010 and January 2011 which reached 12%," reported Prensa.com.

Tocumen International Airport remains the main gateway to Panama from abroad, with 65% of tourists passing through it. In contrast, the Paso Canoa border recorded a drop of 6% compared with January 2011.

"The challenge for 2012 is to maintain the pace that was achieved last year, and to do that we will be focusing on high potential markets like the United States and Brazil," said Ernesto Orillac, deputy administrator of the Tourism Authority of Panama.

Source: Prensa.com

More on this topic

More Tourists Come to Panama

July 2012

As of May a total of 934,899 visitors came to the country, a 7.7% increase compared to the same period in 2011.

Despite the number of tourists by sea having decreased (-22%), the result of the cancellation of the arrival of two cruisers, entry via Tocumen International Airport increased by 19.3%.

Tourism Continues to Grow in Panama

September 2011

Between January and July the flow of tourists arriving in the country grew by 11% compared to the same period in 2010.

Germany, Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela are among the countries from which the largest number of tourists entered Panama in the first seven months of the year.

Panama: Record Tourist Numbers

August 2011

In the first half of the year tourists arrivals to the country nearly doubled compared to the same period in 2010.

Expenditure by the approximately 1.2 million visitors was $908.8 million, a 10.3% increase compared to last year.

An article on PAdigital.com.pa’s website reports, "Solomon Shamah, the Minister of Tourism Authority (PTA), said he was pleased with the figures and predicted that they could reach the sum of 2 million tourists by December.

Small Hotels in Panama City

June 2011

About $40 million is being invested in hotel projects with less than 45 beds.

These type of accommodation centers are beginning to be developed in Chiriqui, Colon, Los Santos and Bocas del Toro, keeping pace with the growth in the number of tourists arriving in Panama, which up to May this year recorded a 12% increase compared to same period last year.