Panama requires years of investment and tourism promotion

Panama requires promotion and investment sustainable in order to guarantee greater competitiveness on the international market, explains The CEO of Promtur Panama, Fernando Fondevila.

What are the results of the international promotion?

2022 was a very successful year because we didn’t just achieve position of Panama as a desirable and authentic destination on the international market, through a new tourist brand “Panama lives for more”we also achieved an increase in economic impact of tourism in the country. We are pleased because we managed to achieve 1.8 billion dollars of direct economic effects from all our actions Promtur performs. Our goal by 2022 it was 1.5 billion dollars, so we exceeded it by 21%.

What are the weaknesses for country positioning?

First, the countries we compete with have invested in long-term tourism brands for years. One of the opportunities for Panama is that it now has a long-term tourism brand. Previously, some promotional campaigns were carried out intermittently. We have set ourselves the task, for more than two years, of consistent promotion in market and protected by a premium tourist brand. On the other hand, resources are crucial for international promotion. Panama competes with countries that continue to make great efforts international marketing and promotion with a large amount of funds. In other words, sustainable promotion with appropriate investments is one of the elements for achieving success as a country.

What are the advantages compared to the competition?

Infrastructure, where Panama if it has great advantages compared to other countries in the environment or with which it is dealing to compete. It has hotel capacity very wide in the capital which continues to spread to other regions of the country. It is the only country in the region that has a world-class convention center, the connectivity it has is unmatched in the region. It is the most connected country in the region. As for diversity, we are a country with a large area of ​​land that has a lot to offer, and this is what we must continue to promote consistently with the right resources.

Encounter tourism, what is the result?

In 2021, we established a meeting industry sales committee to establish a clear strategy to attract international events supported by an incentive plan. To date, we have recorded 83 major events, representing 34,000 visitors who are coming from 2022 to 2026. The average time of these travelers extends before and after the event, with an average stay of 4 to 5 days.

Who is Panama competing with?

we compete with Mexico, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua and Belize. This is the area where we measure country brand performance, because these are countries that have attributes similar to Panamathey are also travelers who when planning the next compare the trip to Panama with its tourist offer.

Compared to your competitors, how likely is it to be preferred?

This requires years of investment and tourism promotion. We need many years for those countries. Costa Rica, as such, is more than 20 years old continuous promotions with the investment of funds, just like Colombia. Today we are in fifth place in the competition of eight countries, our aspiration for 2025 is to take fourth place. We are not alone in this race.

What segments does Promtur Panama bet on?

A segment of travelers with a purpose or conscious travelers, which is aligned with Sustainable tourism master plan. A brand positioning study found that Panama and Dominican Republic were the only countries that managed to grow within their target segments.

How do you combat negative publicity for situations such as cruise ports, services, among others?

We actively monitor 24/7 all international public relations activities, both positive and negative. We act quickly, in some cases we have to be active, in others less proactive and more reactive. But if there is one negative communication which they may generate international levelwe raise the promotion levels so that positive shifts a negative situation.

Which negative situation could have the strongest impact on the brand?

What perhaps struck us more then and what we had to work on a lot the private sector as well as the public sector, there were restrictions due to the pandemic, when we countries competed, they didn’t even have restrictions.