The Asian country has authorized 64 Panamanian tour operators, meaning that starting on August 15, they will start offering group travel services to Chinese tourists travelling to Panama.
The administrator of the Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP), Gustavo Him, stated that group trips of Chinese tourists traveling to Panama, will be carried out in common agreement between the authorized Chinese and Panamanian companies, who will be in charge of preparing packages, which will include our country's attractions of interest to the travelers that will arrive from the Asian giant.
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.
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.
Through an agreement with KLM, tourists from the Netherlands who usually only pass through the country to connect with other destinations will be encouraged to stay in Panama.
Currently the Air France-KLM group offers daily flights between Panama and Amsterdam and 6 weekly flights between Panama and Paris. From Panama KLM serves 27 destinations in Central America, South America and the Caribbean.
After having canceled the contract with the company RPL-CSI Panama last year, the Tourism Authority announced that another company will complete construction of the 18-kilometer stretch of highway in Colón.
The 18-kilometer highway between Cuango and Santa Isabel, whose construction had been awarded to the Venezuelan owned company RPL - CSI Panama, will now be finished by another company, according to Nacional de Seguros, who provided security at the time of almost $10 million.
Tailor made tourist packages, modifications in hotels, and learning the Mandarin language, are just some of the aspects that companies must work on in order to receive tourists from China.
The bilateral tourism promotion agreement signed between the governments of China and Panama, after they reestablished diplomatic relations in June 2017, involves much more than a simple framework to promote the arrival of tourists, but also contemplates the requirements that Panama must meet in order to be categorized as a country authorized to be visited by the citizens of China.
The US company SMG has been chosen to manage the Panamanian convention center, which is under construction and will be ready to operate next year.
Minister Him detailed that the selection of the managing company was made at the request of the Chamber of Commerce, Chamber of Tourism and the National Tourism Council. SMG will be in charge of the operation, maintenance and marketing of the convention center. The only process left pending is approval from the Cabinet Council.
Between January and July, occupancy fell by 6% compared to the same period in 2016, and projections by employers for the second half of the year are not very encouraging.
The hotel trade union believes that there are not many options for trying to change the situation in the sector, mainly caused by less tourism promotion at an international level in the last four years.The situation also indicates that perhaps it is not only lack of promotion explaining the low occupancy rates, but also a clear oversupply of rooms.
The company has proposed to the government that a tax collection scheme be implemented for property owners that rent out rooms to tourists using its web platform.
Airbnb's idea is to establish a system similar to the one recently implemented in Puerto Rico, where the company signed an agreement with the government to collect taxes on rentals from homeowners.
The Tourism Authority in Panama estimates that the supply of residences in the country that are rented out to tourists now represents 20% of hotel occupancy.
Hotel occupancy remains at the same levels as a year ago, around 50%, according to data from the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic. According to hoteliers and the Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP) itself, it has not been possible to improve the figures due to an increasing supply of vacation rentals, an activity which has been banned since 2014 under Law 80.
In order to encourage business tourism and congresses in the area, plans are being made to tender the design and construction of a convention center in Boquete, in the province of Chiriquí.
The Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP) has announced that they have already done the legal transfer of the lands where a "green" convention center will be built, with capacity for 2,000 people.The objective of the ATP is to boost the business of tourism and congresses in the province of Chiriquí.
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."
The maximum amount that the Tourism Authority will provide will be $20 million a year, and it may also receive private contributions and contributions from international organizations.
In contrast to what was initially proposed, the Tourism Authority of Panama will not allocate more than $20 million for the tourism promotion fund. These resources will come from the revenue generated by tax collections at Tocumen airport.
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 first stage begins with promoting of digital media targeting 12 cities in the US, Spain and Canada in the cities of Montreal and Toronto.
From a statement issued by the Tourism Authority of Panama:
The Minister of Tourism in Panama, Gustavo Him, announced the start of an international digital media tourism campaign this week, as part of the inauguration of the Chamber of Tourism of Panama for the period 2017, held last night in a hotel.The first stage of the tourism campaign for Panama, by the international agency VLM, INCwill target 12 cities in the United States, Spain and Canada in the cities of Montreal and Toronto.
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