{"id":3048,"date":"2021-08-31T19:46:34","date_gmt":"2021-08-31T17:46:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/?p=3048"},"modified":"2022-03-17T15:55:46","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T14:55:46","slug":"jose-ramon-icaza-initiatives-and-projects-that-can-promote-our-national-tourism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/2021\/08\/31\/jose-ramon-icaza-initiatives-and-projects-that-can-promote-our-national-tourism\/","title":{"rendered":"Jose Ramon Icaza: Initiatives and Projects that Can Promote Our National Tourism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Our country is probably in one of the most\nchallenging moments in its history, like many other countries, due to the\neffects of the pandemic. The economy has suffered a lot and to begin to pave a\npath that will return us to growth and development, it is necessary that the\nmost important economic segments be encouraged, among them the tourism\nindustry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the President of the Chamber of\nCommerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama Jose Ramon Icaza, the organization\nhas for years identified the tourism sector as the one destined to lead the\nsustainable economic system in Panama, along with agro-business, logistics and\ntechnology information and innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Initiatives that are\nBoosting Tourism<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This important organization has been\nsupporting initiatives in behalf of tourism development such as the Tourism\nPromotion Fund created in 2017. Engineer Jose Ramon Icaza believes that it is important for\nthe government to give governance, sustainability and continuity to tourism marketing\nefforts internationally. Of course, following the path that began to be traced\nwith the Sustainable Tourism Master Plan that develops a tourist offer taking\ninto account the natural, oceanographic, hydrographic, cultural and historical\nheritage, based on a model of tourism focus on conservation and research\ntourism. Strengthening areas through the construction of basic infrastructure\nsuch as waste disposal, quality water supply and connectivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Challenges to\nOvercome<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the 80’s and 90’s, Panama worked\nwith tourism under a concept based more on the hotel infrastructure. However,\nthe President of the Chamber of Commerce comments that tourism has evolved into\na reality where the tourist is aware, wants to positively impact both socially\nand economically, a line of thought that began in Europe and the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faced with this challenge of evolving\ntowards what motivates tourists today, Engineer Icaza comments that it will be\nvery difficult to compete in hotel infrastructure with countries that are many\nyears beyond, but with the historical and natural heritage that Panama has, it\nis possible to create in the market a unique proposal that can position the\ncountry in a more important spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Guarantee Fund and\nthe Tax Credit Expansion Law<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Months ago the Cabinet Council approved\nthe Guarantee Fund for 300 million dollars, in which the government, the\nnational bank and the Inter-American Development Bank participate. Engineer\nIcaza believes that it should be started immediately, since the debt is estimated\nbetween 700 and 800 million dollars, covering only 38% of the total, and if it\nis insufficient, the government should seek more economic aid for the sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding Law 122 that grants tax credits\nfor tourism investment, the Engineer thinks that although it is positive, they\nhave identified five areas for improvement: scope, impact, proportionality,\noversight and transparency. The latter is very important so that trust in both\nthe public and private sectors is not further eroded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Meeting, Conferences\nand Exhibitions Tourism Can Revitalize the Industry<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although MICE tourism is not fully\nincluded in the Sustainable Tourism Master Plan, this segment will be the\nenhancer in the short and medium term of the country’s natural, blue and\ncultural heritage, thanks to the opening of the new giant of Capital City: Panama\nConvention Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Engineer Icaza trusts that our country is\ncalled to become the epicenter of fairs, exhibitions and conventions in Latin\nAmerica, due to its geographical position and stable dollarized economy. It\nalso has enviable connectivity and socioeconomic factors that offer a stable\nenvironment for Panama to host mass events in 2023 and 2024. The Engineer\nemphasizes that the economic benefits of these events greatly impact hotels,\nrestaurants, cultural centers and places of recreation. A segment of tourism of\ngreat relevance for the country and that it is necessary to take advantage of\nthe opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The President of the Chamber of Commerce,\nIndustries, and Agriculture of Panama, Jose Ramon Icaza, reinforces the message\nthat everything planned for the tourism sector must be well managed and\nexecuted, ensuring the continuity of projects until it is achieved, until we\nget out of the crisis that the country is experiencing in general. Without\nthese ingredients, incentives such as the tourist bonus will not achieve the\nexpected impact.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our country is probably in one of the most challenging moments in its history, like many other countries, due to the effects of the pandemic. The economy has suffered a lot and to begin to pave a path that will return us to growth and development, it is necessary that the most important economic segments […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[33],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3048"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3048"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3577,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3048\/revisions\/3577"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}