Colombian Company to Invest in Hotels in Panama

Colombian hotel chain Decameron has just announced its intention to pour $150 million into building at least nine hotels in Panama in the course of the coming years.

Jorge Loaiza, a consultant for the Colombian company, told the local press that the decision to build the hotels came over after the tremendous success of the Farallon, a lodging facility some 110 miles southwest of Panama City.

The Decapolis Hotel will open next April 15 in the Panamanian capital as an add-on to the Multicentro shopping mall, one of Central America’s largest department stores, also financed with Colombian funds.

According to Mr. Loaiza, other sites in Panama where his company plans to build hotels in are the northern province of Colon, Panama City’s old core, the central region of Azuero, the Perlas Archipelago in the Pacific, and the Caribbean-bathed province of Bocas del Toro.

Panamanian authorities eye tourism as the main economic powerhouse for the country, second-best only to the Panama Canal.

Last year, the hotel and restaurant sector grew a staggering 22 percent, while the nation’s overall economy shot up 4.1 percent, way above the meager 0.8 percent posted in 2002.