Panama’s tourism industry brings in $1.5 billion in revenue per year, more than earned from the tolls at the Panama Canal, according to a recent article in the Seattle Times. Panama’s government, through the official tourism ministry - IPAT, have sought to increase the country’s visibility by promoting the recent “Panama – It Never Leaves You” advertising campaign. The article discusses major tourism destinations in Panama, including Isla Parida, David, Boquete, and Bocas del Toro.
The article also described the rapid pace at which growth and development have been occurring in parts of Panama. A local from Isla Parida, an island ten miles off the coast from David in southwestern Panama, describes his current frustration have sold his property over a decade ago when surrounding land was converted into a national park, not knowing the value the property would be holding today.
The author goes on to describe his experience Boquete, in Chiriqui Province:
Nowhere is the investment as intimate as in the lush foothills of the 11,397-foot Baru volcano, where Americans retire in mass to the town of Boquete. Signs on the edge of town promote Coldwell Banker, Kohler sinks and the Hacienda Los Molinos, which promises, in English, “A Fabulous Lifestyle in Boquete… Later, [we] drive the road east from Boquete and pass parked bulldozers, cleared hillsides and billboards promising more.
I thought the article was interesting, and shows the wealth of opportunities that Panama offers to international tourists. Panama is uniquely positioned as a crossroads of business and culture, as well as an ecological crossroads between two continents. This diversity will help to continue to diversify and help bolster Panama’s already robust tourism industry.
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