Tourism in Panama vs. Costa Rica

Panama received 2.5 million tourists in 2015 and double the amount of foreign income received by Costa Rica from the 2.6 million who visited that country in the same year.

Thursday, February 4, 2016

The number of tourists who went to Panama in 2015 exceeded by 10.7% the amount recorded in 2014, according to the Tourism Authority of Panama. With the 2.5 million who came last year, the country is very close to matching the record of Costa Rica, which reached 2.6 million. In addition, the Comptroller General's Office estimated an increase in foreign exchange from tourism, having counted $4,171,000, compared to $2,635,000 which came into Costa Rica from a similar number of tourists.

Prensa.com Reported that "... 46.1% of tourists who came into the country last year came from the southern end of the continent, led by Colombia (288,569), Venezuela (260,145), Brazil (88,348), Ecuador (74,043), and Peru (50,275). After South America, the northern region (the United States, Mexico and Canada) accounted for 24.1% of tourists, followed by Europe with 13.6%, Central America 10.3% and the Caribbean with 2.3%.

However, hotel occupancy recorded its worst year since 2006, closing 2015 with 56.1%. "... It is estimated that in hotels with over 100 rooms, 53.9% of the rooms went empty last year, while for smaller hotels, the situation was more critical, with only 46.6% of rooms occupied".

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More on this topic

Tourism in Central America Loses Strength

January 2019

In 2018, the number of international tourists who arrived in the countries of the region fell 2% compared to 2017, in contrast to the increases of 4% and 3% recorded in North and South America, respectively.

According to the report of the World Tourism Organization (WTO) presented on January 21, the results recorded last year in Central America are partly because of behavior in some countries, as in the cases of Panama and Nicaragua were recorded declines in tourism.

2016: Bad Year for Panamanian Tourism

May 2017

A decline of 4.6% in the flow of visitors has been attributed by tour operators to the fact that in recent years the country did not have sufficient international promotion.

An article on Prensa.com reports that "according to the National Migration Service and the Comptroller General's records, 2,432,641 visitors were registered last year, down 4.6% compared to 2015."

Panama: Tourists Spent 13% More in 2015

February 2016

Visitor spending went from $3.728 billion in 2014 to $4.2 billion in 2015, double the growth rate for the category in a year.

The entry of travelers into Panama grew by 6.9% at the end of last year, going from 6,668 in 2014 to 7,128 in 2015. This greater volume of passengers spent 12.7% more than they did in 2014, reaching a record high of $4,199.7 million, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Census.

Panama: Tourism Figures in 2014

February 2015

During the year 2.3 million tourists came into the country, of which 48% came from South America, 24.3% from North America, 12.7% from Central America and 2.5% of the Antilles.

The increase of 4.7% compared to 2013 did not solve the problem of low occupancy in hotels, because the supply of rooms also continued to rise. A drop of 20% was reported in financial income from this sector.

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