Panama Is Spending $300 Million With Lofty Goals for Community-Centric Tourism
Photo Credit: Panama's new sustainability plan aims to prioritize community based tourism Flickr Commons / Marc Veraart
Skift Take
The country's new sustainable tourism master plan could set a precedent for the region if the government puts its money where its mouth is. But is Panama's private sector ready to embrace sharing the tourism pie after a major downturn?
Pre-pandemic, Panama was one of the strongest performing economies in the Latin America and Caribbean region, growing at an average of 4.7 percent annually. But that wasn’t the case for its tourism sector, which remained stagnant in comparison to previous years, even with a 16 percent contribution to the gross domestic product.
That outlook was supposed to change in 2020 with the appointment of a new minister of tourism — a millennial entrepreneur with a background in finance and hospitality but no political ties — and the launch of a first-ever destination marketing organization for Panama, PROMTUR. The pandemic slashed visitor numbers in 2020 by over 70 percent as well as hit deeply on other large sectors. But that didn’t stop the country from playing catch up in boosting its economy and transforming its image — through tourism.
Beyond pushing for the return of visitors, the Panamanian government is in the midst of spending an ambitious $
