Fifty seven travel agencies and Panamanian tour operators submitted their applications to the ATP to be included in a list of companies authorized to do business in China.
The requests that were received by the Tourism Authority were sent to the Panamanian Foreign Ministry, so that these in turn can be sent to the Chinese authorities.This means that all that remains is for the Asian country to grant approval so that these tourism businesses can start to negotiate with Chinese wholesalers.
Businessmen from the Panamanian tourist sector welcome the arrival of Air China flights in March 2018, but consider it will be a challenge to attract a type of tourist that seems to prefer very different destinations than those offered by Central America.
In a region which for many years has specialized in serving North American tourists and more recently Europeans, preparing to provide the attention demanded by tourists from China will be a challenge, according to the Panamanian tourism entrepreneurs themselves.
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.
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.
A decline of 4.6% in the flow of visitors has been attributed by tour operators to the fact that in recent years the country did not have sufficient international promotion.
An article on Prensa.com reports that "according to the National Migration Service and the Comptroller General's records, 2,432,641 visitors were registered last year, down 4.6% compared to 2015."
Aeronáutica Civil has announced a plan to build, starting from 2018, a new air terminal for one of the main tourist destinations in Panama.
The proposal comes a year after a $3.3 million tender to renovate the runway of the current airport was declared void.On several occasions entrepreneurs and tour operators have complained about the poor state of the infrastructure at the terminal.
In Panama the increase in room supply has caused a price war between hotels trying to attract travelers and increase the occupancy rate which on average is not more than 60%.
Hotel occupancy in the country has been declining since 2011, when it stood at 68.6% dropping to 59.3% within the sector this year, according to figures from the Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP).
Tourism companies propose to boost the capabilities of the Destination Marketing Organization bureau and turn it into a public-private entity separate from the ATP.
Tourism entrepreneurs are asking the new government to revive the campaign to promote the country as a destination for convention tourism and expedite the negotiation of agreements with foreign airlines in order to increase the flow of tourists and improve the hotel occupancy rate, which is currently 59%, due to an oversupply of rooms.
The effects are being felt from the pressures of regional competition where there are new low-cost flights to Costa Rica and declining hotel rates in Mexico, combined with a decreased performance of international promotional campaigns.
In the first quarter of the year the number of tourists increased by 2.5%, the smallest increase reported in the last four years.
More and better roads, the new Rio Hato airport and the construction of three new hotels, are a sign of Colon's heavyweight presence in the Panamanian tourism boom.
The construction of the 26 kilometer highway between Cuango and Santa Isabel is encouraging investment in tourism infrastructure in the Caribbean, a hitherto unexploited area because of a lack of adequate transport access.
The revenue generated by tourist arrivals is almost two times higher than the income received by tolls at the Canal.
The growth in the number of visitors to Panama and the amount of money they spend in the country has been so rapid that it already far exceeds the revenue generated by tolls on the Canal.
"Just five years ago, both sectors generated similar income according to the Comptroller General of the Republic.
Despite the low hotel occupancy levels between 2013 and 2015 $650 million will be invested in the construction of 23 hotels which will add 6,593 rooms.
2013 closed with 11 new hotels, some of which are already operating. In 2014 there will be 8 projects added to the list and in 2015 another 14 will be built. Among the projects that are planned to be built in 2015 are The Queen Hotel which will feature 324 rooms, Planet Hollywood with 309 rooms and Embassy Suite with 306 rooms.
From 10 to 12 October, more than 40 international delegations will participate in an event which draws in some 300 journalists.
European and Latin American designers have already confirmed their participation in the event, which will be held in the Atlapa Convention Center.
This year Panama Fashion Week 2013, "joins with e-commerce by innovatively incorporating internet shopping for over 11 countries and promoting designers' creations through one of the most important fashion portals worldwide" , reported Capital.com.pa.
The highway will make possible the construction of the 300-room hotel Decameron in Santa Isabel, which will be a center for tourism development in the area.
With a price tag of $18 million, the Tourism Authority of Panama is putting out to tender studies, design and construction of a road on the coast of Colon, between the communities of Cuango and Santa Isabel.
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