In Panama, the National Assembly approved a law initiative, whose purpose is to establish the annual contribution of $20 million for the Tourism Promotion Fund.
Regarding the approved initiative, establishes that the fund will have legal identity, own assets and autonomy in its administrative, economic, tax, financial and functional system, whose assets will be managed through an administrative trust fund, informed the Assembly in a statement.
Ten advertising agencies have shown interest in obtaining the contract for the international promotion of Panama as a tourist destination.
An article on Prensa.com reports that "... The contract to manage international tourism promotion in the country has generated interest from major foreign advertising agencies. To date, the Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP) has received 10 proposals and it is expected that this number will increase in the coming weeks. "
In light of the direct hiring of an international promotion for Panama, the business association is demanding transparency in the process and an award which is well-founded.
From a statement issued by the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama:
It has been almost two years since we recommended that authorities promptly make a strong investment in international promotion campaigns in order to attract visitors, to resolve mismatches in the performance of the tourism sector, due to an excess in the available supply of hotels and restaurants, among other goods and services.
The Tourism Authority of Panama will directly hire an advertising agency to develop two years of international promotion campaigns.
The head of the entity, Gustavo Him, told Prensa.com that "... the call began last week and they expect to receive six proposals in the month of May." The decision not to invite tenders and make a direct hire was made by the National Tourism Council, who came to this conclusion because of the delays that occurred in the process of defining the tender.
The consortium of advertising agencies Team Tourism 16-17 Team won the contract to design and implement the internal tourism promotion campaign with a proposal of $4.5 million.
According to the evaluation committee, the consortium made up of the companies P4 Ogilvy, Cerebro Y & R and Nexos Grey submitted the best technical proposal and met all the requirements for creativity and experience requested by the Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP).
After three years without any tourism marketing, the authority for the sector has announced that $10 million will be spent on international promotion, aside from the $5 million already being tendered in a domestic campaign.
The uneven internal and external promotion of tourism in Panama could have seen better days. The general manager of the Tourism Authority of Panama, Gustavo Him, announced in a statement that there will be a budget of $10 million for the international promotion, in addition to the $5 million for domestic tourism promotion.
The agencies BBDO, BB & M, and the consortia Team Tourism 16-17 and La Union Zaga submitted similar bids for $4.5 million to design and produce the country's tourism campaign.
From a statement issued by the Tourism Authority of Panama:
The Tourism Authority of Panama, held on Monday, March 28, tender act 2016-1-45-0-08-AV-008 805 to select an advertising agency to be in charge of the design and production of a national tourism advertising campaign.
After having canceled the first contest, there has now been a second postponement of the date for receipt of bids in the tourism promotion tender worth $5 million.
The tender to design and implement a campaign of domestic tourism promotion in Panama has in the past had its reference amounts changed, time limits and specifications changed, and the contest has even been declared void.
The Tourism Authority will publish a new specification after the initial tender was declared void because the only bidders belonged to the same conglomerate.
The evaluation committee appointed by the Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP) has annulled the act of tendering design services and production of an advertising campaign, development of media plans, patterns in traditional and digital media and media monitoring in Panama.
The Tourism Authority is thinking about aborting the $5 million tender process seeing as the only two companies involved belong to the same advertising conglomerate.
Prensa.com reports that "... Although six firms had shown interest in the $5 million contract, in the end only Publicuatro (P4 Ogilvy) and Consortium Turi1617 (composed of the companies Cerebri Y & R and Nexos Grey) reached the final stages.
At the request of the bidders the Tourism Authority has extended the deadline for submission of bids for the domestic tourism promotion campaign, until 12 February.
The agencies Publicuatro Ogilvy & Mather, Starcom MediaVest Group, Cerebro JCM Publicidad, R Publicidad/ BBDO, Nexos Publicidad and BBM Publicidad, who are interested in bidding for the right to develop the campaign to promote domestic tourism, have asked the Government for more time to prepare their proposals.
The Tourism Authority in Panama is putting out to tender the design, manufacture, assembly and disassembly of stands, media promotion and coordination of preconditions for the country's participation in tourism fairs.
Panama Government Purchase 2016-1-45-0-08-LV-008819:
"A company or consortium will be hired to design, execute and implement with high levels of quality, responsibility, and punctuality, services that enable and facilitate the presentation of the Tourism Authority of Panama and private companies related to tourism in fairs and national and international events.
The Tourism Authority of Panama is putting out to tender services for the design and production of an advertising campaign, development of media plans, guidelines on traditional and digital media and media monitoring.
Panama Government Purchase 2016-1-45-0-08-AV-008 805:
"The aim is to have a campaign to create a desire to rediscover Panama as a tourist destination, where each of the participants in the tourism sector are involved, creating a sense of belonging, encouraging the practice of domestic tourism, helping to strengthen the industry, encouraging people to value what is ours and for this to come to mind every weekend, holiday and on special occasions as an opportunity for recreation and to get to know Panama.
The Tourism Authority has announced that it will focus its efforts on international tourism promotion, when preparing the tender specifications for the development of an advertising campaign.
From a statement issued by the Tourism Authority of Panama:
The Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP) presented on Thursday to the national tourism associations, its new international marketing and promotion strategy for 2015, based on the markets of the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and Europe, without neglecting other destinations where there is air connectivity with our country.
The Tourism Authority of Panama has terminated the contract for $1.3 million signed with Conde Marketing to promote the country during the transmission of boxing matches in Argentina.
The contract, which was renewed in 2014, included the promotion of Panama as a tourist destination during the transmission of 36 boxing matches on the television channel TyCSports.