Panama is Betting on it's Fauna and Coffee as a Unique Tourist Destination

[Keith Woolford]

EFE | Nov 24 2014 08.42pm FreeTranslation - rough edit by me

Panama is betting on bird and whale watching as well as tours of an important coffee-growing region, among others, to boost the arrival of tourists to the country and to reach the goal this year of at least 1.8 million visitors.

Panama is a 'unique' destination in the American continent, among other things because it combines "security and high performance connectivity (air), which is what the tourist family, the business tourists are looking for", added the administrator of the Tourism Authority (ATP), Jesus Sierra, this Monday.

Sierra, a lawyer by profession and former executive of the Panamanian Association of Hotels and of the National Council of Private Enterprise (Conep), emphasized that his administration, which began last July, promotes programs of bird and whale watching, including coffee as part of the policy of the promotion of tourism to national and international level.

"We have been able to structure different products in the interior of the country in these four months, as for example what are the bird watching; the whale watching, what are the humpback whales in the area of Coiba and the sighting of dolphins in the province of Bocas del Toro," Sierra said.

One of the tourism products that the ATP also promotes is the growing of coffee in the district of Boquete, the western province of Chiriqui, where the variety known as geisha is grown, a grain  quoted in the international market where "has been recorded as selling at up to $350 a pound," said the head of the agency in charge of tourism.

"These are some of the products that I could mention" and that drives the ATP, which has an annual budget of $25 million "for both national and international advertising" tourism, he said. The promotion is "not only in Central America, but in specific countries in Latin America and Europe, markets toward where our incentives are targeted to the tourism sector to visit Panama", said the minister of State of Panama.

The aim is to reach "this year to the 1.8-1,85 millions of visitors", over and above the "1.6 million" that were recorded in the 2013, said the head of the ATP.

Sierra said that Panama has qualities that make it a 'unique' tourist destination in the region, and stated as "the first of them - security", followed by the airline connectivity via the so-called "Hub of the Americas" that operates in the Tocumen international airport, the main of the country and serves the capital.

Those who visit Panama " can enjoy your holiday either tourist shopping, sightseeing on the beach, tours for birding or marine mammals, with the peace of mind that the tourist can be day and night on the streets of the city and the country," said the minister.

Highlighted as other great attractions in the country are the Colon Free Zone, the second largest free zone in the world after Hong Kong; and the International Banking Center, composed of more than a hundred financial institutions.

The Colon Free Zone is close to the capital, about 80 kilometers, and there "there are a wide variety of products that can be purchased simply by entering and showing a passport, that is one of the many qualities that the country has, in addition to having the dollar as the currency in circulation, said Sierra.

Highlighted as an iconic tourist point is the Panama Canal, now immersed in an ambitious expansion "that has very much been liked by tourists", and the newly opened Museum of Biodiversity, the world's first and designed by Canadian architect Frank Gehry.

[Sarcasticus]

Others have commented on the prospect of "coffee tourism" and I am a supporter of coffee, without reservation.

Still, I could not help remembering this thread as I read about coffee in a world context:

http://blogs.reuters.com/data-dive/2014/11/28/tis-the-season-to-caf...

Just thinking...

[Jim Tosch]

Unfortunately the world is not exactly teeming with birdwatchers. But Panama is outstanding for serious birders. What most marketing people overlook about marketing Retirees is that most that come will not move here but they make great tourists. They look for different amenities than regular tourists. They look for good supermarkets, Internet access, good roads and transportation. Lots of things Panama is spending billions on and should take advantage of by marketing to people who see them as pluses. A tourist isn't going to care if you have good hospitals or organic farms nearby but a retiree will. With a few million dollars Panama could dominate the retiree ad market. If you want a low crime rate and willing community volunteers, retirees are a great target audience for a stable economy without the problem of short overcrowded peak seasons.

[Jim Tosch]

You are so right Walter but regular tourists do the same thing. Bocas has changed more than Boquete in the last ten years. There is no reason the change couldn't be minimized by marketing to South Americans but if you don't want change they have to stop marketing and close the borders.

[Gordon Bakke]

Fauna? Pretty much birds only, is it not? (I'm excluding cows and horses).

[Jim Tosch]

When you are advertising for tourists you have to use what you have. If coffee is the best you have you know you are in trouble. Panama's best use for its money is to market Panama as a retirement location but I assume that would be a political issue. People who are preparing for retirement obviously like the climate, the safety, a stable currency and easy access. They bring lots of money and in the US alone ten thousand a day are retiring.Panama has very little to offer tourists that you can't find all the way from Mexico to Chile except for the canal.

[Keith Woolford]

The Tourism Minister is from the area, and is obviously promoting Chiriqui as a 'natural' destination. To my mind, eco-tourism is a more preferable option than theme parks.

The other two points he made concerned personal safety and easy air connections. I suppose, like everywhere, tourists to Panama are as safe as their own common sense permits them to be, and relatively speaking, Panama may be the safest destination in all of Central America. The request to COPA by President Varela for flights to David from Tocumen probably stems from Sr.Sierra's initiative.

[Patrick]

Keith: you are absolutely right. Panama is the safest Central American country/ Just need to use common sense.

 

[bt]

I don't know where you live, but a visit to Boquete and a tour of Finca Dos Jefes with Rich Lipner is definitely a worthwhile trip.