Panama gets great marks in tourism after a lost decade

Tourism, a sector that used to be almost nonexistent in Panama a decade ago, chipped in $678.8 million worth of revenues last year and outdid earnings generated by the Panama Canal’s toll money.

According to the Panamanian Tourism Institute (IPAT), 800,161 vacationers traveled to the country in 2002, thus outnumbering the 737,102 trippers who flew to the nation in 2001 for an 8.6 percent increase.

Last year, Panama amassed $53 million more than in 2001 churned out by the leisure industry. And that figure seems to please authorities here, especially because the sector was hit hard by the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S.

“The addition of Panama as a tourist destination is paying off,” IPAT manageress Liriola Pitti said.

Mrs. Pitti is happy with these stats because revenues out of the tourist sector has done those earned by the Panama Canal one better. Toll money collected at the sluiceways peaked $579 million over the 2001-2002 period.

Panama is the third-largest receptor of tourists in Central American, second to Costa Rica and Guatemala.

Tourist development has truly leapfrogged taking account of the fact that this activity was not a top priority for the country a decade ago when the industry was in the hands of the military, experts said.

There’s now a tourist strategy in place, lures for investors and a promotional blitz in an effort to sell the Panamanian destination in the U.S., Latin American and European markets. Half of visitors to the country hails from the United States and Colombia.

At a time when there’s a raging war in Iraq, IPAT has rephrased in part the message of its campaign with a view to stress a couple of aspects: Panama is far from the conflict and is a safe destination.

Authorities are also cranking up their blitz in Latin America. “There are many interesting points like the Canal Zone, the beaches and its biodiversity,” Mrs. Pitti pointed out.

“We’ve got an airline that’s doing up to two flights a day to Latin American cities,” she added.

IPAT’s goal is to crack the one-million-tourist plateau and Mrs. Pitti thinks that target is now within reach this year, given a number of events scheduled to mark the 100th anniversary of Panama’s separation from Colombia.