The average european tourist plans trips less than a year in advance and searches and books tour packages via the internet, without using intermediaries.
A study by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute to identify best prospectsfound that"... generally Europeans decide on their holiday destination less than a year in advance and in most cases organize their trips independently i.e., without using intermediaries. It was also found that the most used methods of finding information include recommendations from friends, search engines and online travel agencies and websites promoting the destinations.
The event held at the Atlapa convention center on September 26th and 27th will bring together wholesale companies from Europe, America and Asia with tourism companies from Panama and the region.
From a statement issued by the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama (CCIAP):
(Panama, June 17, 2014). Over 150 wholesale operators from America, Europe, Asia and the Caribbean who have great interest in tourism in Panama, will meet in the fifth edition of the INTERNATIONAL TOURISM EXPO, to be held on 26 and 27 September.
In the Summer Fair to be held on the 28th and 29th of March tourism companies from Latin America and the U.S. will see the country's tourism supply.
On the 28th and 29th March the second edition of the Summer Fair will be held in Nicaragua, in which tourism businesses from Latin America and the United States will get to see the tourism services on offer in the country, confirmed the National Chamber of Tourism (CANTUR).
Tourist Companies in Central America will be presenting their services and participating in business conferences from 14th to 16th of May in San Jose.
The Costa Rican Association of Tourism Professionals (ACOPROT) will be holding on the 14th to 16th of May, the Expotur International Tourism Fair 2014. More than 300 representatives from tourism companies in Costa Rica and Central America will gather in San Jose to present their services and take part in business conferences.
What is needed is simple and effective governments that put an end to the bureaucracy that limits the integration of tourism in the region.
So says Epaminondas Marinakys, president of the Federation of Tourism Chambers of Central America (FEDECATUR). The official believes that the governments of the region must adjust their border rules in order to expedite the passage of tourists from one place to another.
On 13 May, Costa Rican businessmen will meet at a business forum in which they will study strategies to position Costa Rica as a destination for the European market.
From a press release by the National Chamber of Tourism of Costa Rica (CANATUR):
The European region represents one of the main markets for attracting tourists to Costa Rica, which, according to figures from the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT), received 284,996 visitors from Europe, which means about 12% of total reported income in 2012.
The Ministries of Tourism in Central America have announced their intention to form a regional strategy to promote tourist destinations in the isthmus.
Reinforcing some intentions expressed in previous ministerial meetings, the government sector is proposing offering tourists the region "in one trip."
An article in Prensalibre.com reports that the chief executive of the Nicaraguan Institute of Tourism (Intur), Mario Salinas, said: "We are going promote on the website, in European tourism fairs, two, three, four, five countries (as a destination), and not promote Panama or Nicaragua only, we will encourage (them to come and see) Central America. "
For the first time, the canal country has more tourist arrivals than its neighbor Costa Rica.
Marketing strategies implemented abroad, coupled with the increasing flow of foreign investment into the country, are two of the main reasons for the notable growth in the number of visitor arrivals to Panama.
In the third quarter of the year, Costa Rica, a major recipient of tourists in the region, recorded a 4% decrease in tourist flow, while Panama experienced an increase of 11%.
The Central American region is attempting to become more integrated in the way it promotes itself.
Although each Central American country has its own unique characteristics, their geographic proximity and similarities, among other things, are elements that can be used to raise the region’s profile as a worldwide tourist destination.
These were the conclusions reached at the VIII Central American Travel Market, CATM 2011, one of the isthmus’s more relevant tourism industry promotion events, which recently took place in Panama.
During 2010, tourism revenues were $7,341 million, of which $2552 were generated in Panama, $1961in Costa Rica, $1378 in Guatemala, $650 in Honduras , $518 in El Salvador, and $281 in Nicaragua, .
According to a preliminary report by the Central American Tourism Integration Secretariat (SITC in Spanish), tourism revenues in the region grew by 0.9% compared to 2009 and the number of visitors increased by 3.8%.
The goal is to promote the country as a destination for weddings and honeymoons for foreign tourists.
The large influx of tourists coming to enjoy their honeymoon trip in the country, or nuptials at the beach or in the mountains, has led the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) to decide to participate for the first time in the show. The event is called the “The Wedding Salon” and is held in New York.
The region is being promoted in London as a multi-venue touristic destination.
Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama are presented as a single exhibitor at the International Tourism Fair in London, one of the largest in the world.
"In the first half of 2010, Central America received 4.5 million foreign visitors, representing an increase of 17% over the same period last year," says an article published in Sigloxxi.com.
3.762 business meetings between wholesalers and businessmen in the region took place.
The event featured participation of 158 wholesalers and tour operators from 41 countries, 155 exhibitors from the region and 91 international media.
Laprensagrafica.com published, "This year, seven out of 10 participants attended the fair for the first time, this will open the doors to new business contacts, said Roberto Robles, director of the Guatemalan Tourism Institute (INGUAT). Next year's fair will take place in Panama."
The fair will begin on Monday October 18th with participation of 245 tourism wholesalers.
Countries like China, India, Japan, Russia, Turkey and New Zealand among others will attend the seventh edition of the Central America Travel Market (CATM), which will take place in Antigua Guatemala from the 18th to the 20th of October.
Elperiodico.com.gt informs in an article, "The fair also attracted 207 exhibitors and 111 international media ...