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:
The Tourism Authority and 9 companies certified with the seal of quality, which presented Panama as a modern country, with excellent infrastructure for congresses and conventions, air connectivity and tourist sites, managed to arrange more than 200 appointments, during the three days of exposition and business negotiations, at the Travel Fair in the province of Guangzhou, China.
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.
The Honduran government will offer companies in the tourism sector loans with annual rates of 10% and terms of up to 20 years for the construction of hotels.
Authorities in the Hernandez administration announced that among the financial products that are already available in the Honduran Bank for Production and Housing (Banhprovi), are loans for small and medium-sized tourism companies for a maximum amount of $34 thousand, with a 10% annual rate, with terms of up to seven years for fixed assets, three years for working capital and a two-year grace period for fixed assets.
In 2017, 42 operating licenses were authorized for tour operators and travel agencies, and 75 hotels throughout the country also began operations.
Among the licenses processed, 41 are type A (tour operators) and one type B (travel agencies). The province of Panama reflected the highest registry with 24 licenses, and the province of Chiriqui with 8.
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 the first nine months of the year, tourist spending in the country grew by 2.7% compared to the same period last year, well below the 11% increase registered between 2015 and 2016.
Figures from the Comptroller General of the Republic show that at the end of the third quarter of the year tourists who visited Panama spent $3.499 billion, while in the same period in 2016 theses expenses amounted to $3.407 billion.
An environmental impact study has been submitted for construction of a treatment and curative care center in a hot springs area in La Fortuna, Alajuela.
Data from the interactive platform "Construction in Central America" compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData indicates that Ganadera Manoa de la Fortuna S.A. submitted an Environmental Impact Study (EIA) in August to the Setena to develop, in the district of La Fortuna, province of Alajuela, a medical tourism project.
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.
On June 29, Nicaraguan entrepreneurs will be visiting San Salvador to meet with travel agencies and tour operators in order to explore business opportunities.
The objective of the Nicaraguan Tourist Entrepreneurs Projection (Preturnic), which is organizing the activity, is to improve the promotion of Nicaragua as a tourist destination in the neighboring country, and generate alliances with travel agencies, car rental companies and hotels, among others.
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.
The coast of the department of Rivas harbours not only beaches, but also thermal springs, forests and lagoons, but there is no infrastructure to take advantage of this touristic potential.
The plan by a group of tourist entrepreneurs in the area is to develop, with the Nicaraguan Institute of Tourism, a medium and long term plan to turn the area into a pole for tourism development.Two hours from Liberia's international airport in Costa Rica, the coastal strip of the municipalities of Buenos Aires, San Jorge, Rivas and Cárdenas is considered by the private sector as a "tourist treasure".
Last year 62,500 people arrived in the country aboard cruise ships, registering a 35% growth compared with the previous year.
Figures from the Nicaraguan Tourism Institute's Statistics Bulletin for 2016 reveal an increase in the number of tourists who arrived in the country aboard cruise ships, as well as other data relevant to the tourism sector.
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.