The Wellness and Spa Congress will be held from August 31 to September 2 in La Fortuna de San Carlos, with the participation of eight exhibitors from Spain, the United States, Mexico and the United Kingdom.
The First Wellness and Spa Congress of Costa Rica will be held from August 31 to September 2, 2018 at the Rafael Arenas Convention Center in La Fortuna de San Carlos.
The Costa Rican Tourism Institute has announced an alliance with the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association, to develop a long-term strategy and encourage the arrival of more cruise ships.
According to the agreement, Costa Rica will receive guidance from the FCCA to establish a National Cruise Strategy that involves the development of Costa Rica as a cruise destination, which includes port infrastructure, tourism operations and security, as well as promoting demand and the understanding of the cruise industry and its operational practices in port cities in order to build cooperative relationships through the development of productive actions with the private and public sectors.
In a fair held in Guangzhou, more than 200 business appointments were held between tourist entrepreneurs in Panama and buyers and travel agencies in the Asian country.
From a statement issued by the Tourism Authority of Panama:
After the year 2017 provided the sector with income of $840 million, 31% more than in 2016, the union has carried out a new review and plans to generate up to $900 million this year.
An initiative put forward by the Executive Power proposes to create a registry of tourism companies and include more businesses in the tax incentive programs.
The bill presented by the Executive Branch also includes the creation of a new entity, which would be called the National Tourism Council (CNT), and would consist of public and private sectors.
In Panama companies dedicated to the activity are complaining about the absence of a state policy or strategy to help promote the country as a destination for medical tourism at the international level.
Although Panama has all the necessary characteristics to make it a relevant market for medical tourism, a specific policy to promote the activity led by the Tourism Authority could encourage much more development of the activity in the country."...'The only disadvantage Panama has as a destination for medical tourism is that this sector has not been recognized by the state as a tourist product or a real feature of its organizational infrastructure,' said Luis Santamaría, general director of Panasalud S.A., to Prensa.com."
Between 2010 and 2016, the number of tourism companies grew by 47%, and in the same period, the number of transport companies and travel operators increased by 320% and 160%, respectively.
In 2010 the Nicaraguan Tourism Institute counted 62 businesses dedicated to providing travel organization services, and last year, this figure reached 161, thanks to the growth experienced in tourism in the country.
Entrepreneurs in the sector are looking to develop this segment of the tourist market, highlighting the country's characteristics that are ideal for offering activities such as trekking and visits to volcanoes.
The objective should be to focus on the North American and European markets, where most tourists are looking for activities such as biking, hiking, rafting, visits to biological reserves and volcanoes, among other things.
Private companies and the municipality of Panama City are developing a plan to offer tourist activities in the capital to passengers who are in transit through Tocumen airport.
While tourism and hotel operators are still looking for alternatives to improve the sector's sluggish figures, the municipality of Panama intends to develop a plan that encourages passengerswho are waiting for connections at Tocumen airport to go out and visit some tourist attractions in the city. Routes related to religious tourism, others focused on the history of Panamanian athletes who are famous worldwide and thematic shows that show how life was during different periods of Panamanian history, are some of the ideas that have been suggested so far.
Companies in the sector expect to generate $660 million in revenue this year, mainly driven by an increase in tourist spending.
In addition to an increase in the number of visitors to the country, companies in the sector also expect a rise in the average daily expenditure of tourists, which at the close of the third quarter registered anincrease of 8.5% compared to the previous quarter.
A $20 million contract has finally been approved for the company VML Inc. to develop a marketing and communication strategy to promote the country internationally.
The implementation of the international tourism promotion campaign will take place between 2016 and 2018, and will consist of a comprehensive promotion strategy, both online and using traditional advertising, public relations and trade marketing (activations) to promote Panama internationally.
Participating for the first time are Nicaragua and the United Arab Emirates as exhibitors, and buyers will be coming from Germany, Argentina, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Italy, Colombia and Sweden, and other places.
From a statement issued by the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (CCIAP):
International Tourism Expo, in its seventh version, will feature more than 150 exhibition booths, which will be displaying to national and international companies, working in different areas of tourism, in 3,000 m2 of the Atlapa Convention Center in the exhibition which will be held on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 May.
In light of the announcement of a campaign to promote tourism in Nicaragua "through embassies and consulates," entrepreneurs are recommending the utilization of professional methods.
Tourism entrepreneurs believe that the "Pride of my country" campaign is insufficient to achieve the impact required to Nicaragua as an important tourist destination in the region.
While hotel occupancy continues to fall, the tourism authorities are still reviewing the conditions for tendering international tourism promotion, pending since 2013.
Although a spokespeople for the Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP) say they have maintained tourism marketing efforts through other tactics such as presence in international fairs, the tender to hire an advertising agency to be responsible for international promotion has not yet been published. Last year the ATP had said that would be announced in the first quarter of 2015, "... but it is now scheduled for the second half of the year, with the selected company being responsible for promotion from 2016 to 2019."
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