Panama Has Built 39 Hotels in Five Years

Over the past five years, Panama has added 39 new hotels to its stock of accommodations, a figure that is keeping local tourism authorities red hot about the prospect of welcoming nearly a million foreign travelers in 2004.

The Panamanian Tourism Institute (IPAT is the acronym in Spanish) indicated those new hotels edge up the lodging tally to 150 with 10,178 rooms all across the country.

All rooms are outfitted with the finest conveniences money can buy, including phone systems and hot-water pools.

Last year, some 820,000 foreign tourists visited Panama, up 7.8 percent from 2002, IPAT execs pointed out.

Tourism accounts for the nation’s third-largest income source and chips in roughly a tenth of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).