2022 is practically over, a year that introduced new realities, a legacy of the pandemic and that today society is beginning to absorb to find new paths that bring development to all sectors of the country. Especially tourism, which was hit hard and continues to work with great resilience.
However, this year each new edition of The Visitor – El Visitante had the privilege of having Special Guests from a large number of specialties, each one offering from their professional and personal perspective a ray of hope regarding what we should to do as a country to continue on this long path towards the real development of our tourism.
We have had artists, businessmen, journalists, strategists, economists, chefs, singers and more. Each one always offering a constructive and honest analysis. And in this first two-part special report we will analyze the key messages of each of the first six special guests of this year 2022.
Raul Arango Chiari
In the month of January, this renowned visual artist of floral decoration expressed in his artistic language that “Panama is a painting of many colors, that with love and imagination you can produce a work of art.” Expression based on the natural and even architectural beauties that Panama has and that are an integral part of our national tourist offer. A beautiful way of saying that our country only requires more effort to make it what we are all looking for…a country with a developed tourism.
Pedro Heilbron
The most important executive of the largest airline in Panama and who has been a key player in the growth of the Tocumen international airport as the “hub” of the Americas expressed: “To retain our leadership in connectivity we must promote competitiveness.” And it is that today all the countries in the region have also been investing in improving their tourist infrastructure, especially their airports, requiring the country to break schemes to continue leading the region.
Steven Tarazi
The businessman with more than 20 years of experience in the tourism sector and founder of Colon 2000 and Amador cruise ports, expressed in March: “It is important that the people know that tourism is the future for their children and that is why you have to treat the tourist with kind”. Comment that comes from the challenges they had in Colon to implement the cruise port and a topic that the country still needs to perfect every day.
Augusto Huescar
On April, the specialist in tourism and international tourism “branding” of Spanish origin, who was in charge of the new Panama Tourism master plan, rightly expressed: “Tourism must stop being a government policy to be a policy of State.” And it is that only in this way can tourism not only grow, but fully develop throughout the country.
Guillermo de Saint Malo Eleta
A businessman who is dedicated to coffee, horse breeding, and a multiplicity of businesses throughout the country with his company, he expressed in May: “Chiriqui has enormous wealth in natural resources with hard-working, enterprising and ingenious people.” Being from Chiriqui have led him to focus much of his resources on this pioneering province in tourism and a leader in human development in the country. Positive features of this province that must be reinforced in the rest of the country.
Chef Mario Castrellon
The ambassador of Panamanian gastronomy internationally and Head Chef of Maito, a restaurant that has managed to be selected by The World Best Restaurants, as one of the 50 best in Latin America since 2016, being awarded again in 2021, he expressed in the month June: “Gastronomy is a tool to tell different stories and motivate the desire to visit other destinations in the country.” And it is that if there is an industry that has been an engine of innovation and excellence in Panama both nationally and internationally, it is gastronomy. A segment that is generating an important impulse to attract more tourists to the country and tell stories that until now it is possible to tell.
During the first six months of 2022, each message was human-motivated to raise the service to tourists, where our people through their talents can tell Panamanian stories that dazzle tourists. Always remembering that competitiveness must be a priority in the industry, as well as its management at the State level so that Panama continues to place tourism in the position it has achieved in recent times… to be the economic segment that generates the most foreign currency in the country and an empowerment of wealth that permeates the entire population. In the next edition, we will continue with the following six special guests.
