Tourism has turned out the new engine of Panama’s economy

The leisure industry topped Panama’s hard-currency makers in 2002 with a final tally of $678.8 million, $53.1 million more than in 2001and way over the earnings churned out by operations in the Colon Free Trade Zone and the Panama Canal, the Panamanian Tourism Institute (IPAT) reported today.

A grand total of 800, 161 visitors came to Panama in 2002. The country’s main gateways were the Tocumen International Airport, chased closely by the Balboa and Cristobal seaports, and Paso Canoa on the Costa Rican border, IPAT officials stated.

Tourism authorities also said the improvement comes as a result of a number of promotional blitzes and from several offers Panama has made to target markets both in Europe and the United States.

According to IPAT, the increase in hard-currency revenues stemmed in part from cruise liners that in the past couple of years have picked Panama as a major port of call in the region.

Estimates have it that some 159,164 cruise passengers landed on Panama by the end of the third season in April 2003.

The demand for this kind of travel is somewhere around a million visitors, broken down in 744,000 tourists and 310,100 excursionists.