New health and hygiene protocols in the establishments and the commitment to attract national tourists in an environment where short trips will be preferred, are some of the trends predicted in the new "normality" that will come after the quarantine period.
Given the quarantines decreed by most governments worldwide, it is anticipated that the habits of tourists will change dramatically in the short and medium term, as the crisis of covid-19 will leave consequences among consumers.
During the first month of the year, 215,607 visitors arrived to the country, a figure that is 18% less than the one reported for the same period in 2019.
The General Comptroller of the Republic reported that between January 2019 and the same month of 2020 48,696 tourists arrived to the country less, from 264,303 to 215,607 visitors. The report states that in the case of cruise ship passengers, the number increased by 130%, from 10,822 to 24,868.
Some of the most notable effects caused by the spread of covid-19 is the cancellation of at least 8,000 hotel nights in Costa Rica, and the interruption by Iberia of its flights from Madrid to Guatemala and San Salvador.
Businessmen in the region agree that due to the virus that has been spreading from China, supply chains have been interrupted, which is combined with a drop in the transit of people, causing losses to the tourism sector.
Between January and August 2019, approximately 1.5 million tourists arrived in Panama, generating revenues of close to $3,314 million, 1% less than the amount reported in the same period of 2018.
The most recent report of the General Comptroller of the Republic of Panama details that between the first eight months of 2018 and the same period of 2019, the expenditure made by tourists who arrived in the country decreased by $32 million, going from $3.346 million to $3.314 million.
As part of the new international advertising campaign, the tourism sector in Panama expects visitor arrivals to increase by 125,000 tourists per year, who could generate annual revenues of close to $100 million.
The "Panama Stopover" campaign aims to take advantage of the competitive advantages that the country has, encouraging tourists who are in transit in the country to include in their itinerary an extended stop, which could be up to seven days at no additional cost in the airfare.
The Tourism Promotion Fund has the aim of increasing by 100 thousand the number of visitors that annually arrive in the country, a rise that would be determined by the development of advertising campaigns in five areas.
In 2018, the entry of tourists through the main ports of entry to the country was 2,480,190, according to official figures. Therefore, the arrival of 100,000 more tourists would be equivalent to a 5% annual increase.
Last year, 2,48 million tourists arrived in the country, spending $4.605 million, 3.3% more than in 2017.
Figures from the Statistics Department of the Panama Tourism Authority (ATP), specify that the average time a tourist stays in the country is approximately 8 days and spends on average a total of $1,856, which is equivalent to $232 per day, expenses include accommodation, shopping, food, internal transportation, entertainment, visits to historic tourist sites within and outside the capital city.
According to entrepreneurs in the sector lack of promotion of the country is the reason why one million tourists came into the country between January and May of this year, 4% less than in the same period in 2017.
The Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP) reported that 1,091,008 tourists arrived in the first five months of 2018, registering a fall of 3.8% in relation to the 1,134,573 visitors registered in the same period in 2017.
Between the first quarter of 2017 and the same period in 2018, the number of visitors that arrived in the country registered a slight decrease of 1.4%, but the overall expenditure made by them increased by 2.7%.
According to sector's figures, between the first quarter of 2017 and the same period of this year the number of tourists fell from 734,000 to 723,000, and the currencies received registered a slight increase, going from $302 million to $310 million.
In 2017, the country received 2.5 million tourists who spent $4.451 billion, 3.8% more than in 2016.
According to preliminary figures from the Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP), in 2016, tourists spent $4.287 billion, $164 million less than the amount generated last year.
Regarding spending by tourists arriving on cruise ships, the ATP reported that "...
From January to October 2017, tourist spending grew by only 1.6% compared to the same period in 2016, significantly lower than the 13% recorded between 2015 and 2016.
According to figures from the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic, during the first ten months of the year tourists who arrived in the country spent $3.798 billion, an amount that exceeds by $60 million the $3.738 billion registered in the same period in 2016.
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.
The Tourism Authority is considering redeploying the benefit of free insurance for medical expenses for visitors, but adjusting the scope and term of the coverage.
Authorities are assessing the changes that would be needed in order to implement the free health insurance program for tourists once again, seeing as it was such a valuable promotional tool.The benefit was implemented by the Martinelli administration in 2011 andcanceled three years later, due to its high cost.
The number of visitors from North America who came into the country between January and July fell by 3% year on year, while the flow of European tourists grew by almost 7%.
In order to recover some lost ground in the US, Canadian and Mexican markets, an important part of international tourism promotion contract for the next two years will be run in North America.In the first months of the year the number of Canadian tourists who arrived in Panama fell by 27% compared to the same period in 2015, the flow of Mexican tourists fell nearly 5%.
Visitor spending went from $3.728 billion in 2014 to $4.2 billion in 2015, double the growth rate for the category in a year.
The entry of travelers into Panama grew by 6.9% at the end of last year, going from 6,668 in 2014 to 7,128 in 2015. This greater volume of passengers spent 12.7% more than they did in 2014, reaching a record high of $4,199.7 million, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Census.