An agreement has been made to give tax exemptions to Aerotel SA, part of Empresas Bern, for the construction of the Hotel Crowne Plaza Aeropuerto, near Tocumen International Airport.
Prensa.com reports: "Empresas Bern will benefit from tax incentives, according to the provisions of Resolution No. 078 of June 7 in the official newspaper, a total exemption for a period of five years from import tax on construction materials, and 10 years for furniture, fittings and equipment. "
With an investment of $20 million the Crowne Plaza Panama Airport will be constructed, one minute from Tocumen International Airport.
Intercontinental Hotels Group and Bern Hotels & Resorts have signed an agreement to build the Crowne Plaza Panama Airport, which will be located on the premises of Global Business Terminal in Torremolinos, Tocumen.
The project which will open in the next 24 months, will be the closest to the Tocumen International Airport, a distance of about one minute.The hotel will have 126 rooms, a restaurant, exercise room, business center, bar and meeting rooms, however there are plans to increase the number of rooms to three thousand in the future.
The mini city has become a target for locating companies in offices which now cost $3000 per square meter.
According to an article in Prensa.com "Up to the second half of 2012 there were 139 shops in Costa del Este, with an unemployment rate of 2.23%, one of the lowest in the capital, according to figures from CBRE Panama, consultant real estate. "
During that same period, there were 50,539 meters square under construction, representing one of the submarkets with the greatest amount of development in this location.
Internacional de Seguros and ASSA are the industry leaders of a sector that netted $936 million in premiums in 2011, a 16% growth.
Five companies control the insurance market in Panama: Internacional de Seguros, ASSA, Mapfre Panamá, Assicurazioni Generali and Aseguradora Ancón.
The market leaders are Internacional de Seguros – a company that has been in the country for a hundred years – and ASSA, which controlled 17.98% and 17.09% of the market in September 2011, according to figures from the Superintendency of Insurance and Reinsurance of Panama as reported by Prensa.com. Both companies are followed by Mapfre Panama , with 12.47%, Assicurazioni Generali SpA, with 6.15% with Aseguradora Ancón with 8.71%.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide introduced the Westin brand in Panama by opening two hotels in the next two years.
The Westin Playa Bonita Panama, just 20 minutes from downtown, will be ready in 2011 and Panama Westin Hotel in the heart of the business district in the capital city will open in 2012.
Both hotels operate as franchised properties from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.