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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nAmong so many trips and anecdotes, how was that\nfirst feeling of leaving Panama to play when you were only 19 years old and\nyour first contact with sightseeing?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe first time I left Panama, it was to travel to\nArgentina. I had my brother Armando (RIP) in Argentina, who was my reference in\nthat country. I am going to a country that has a different culture from ours, a\ndifferent climate and customs. I met friendly and caring people, they made me\nfeel part of the team from day one. They helped me adapt quickly in that\nregard. They asked me curiosities about Panama, they imagined the beaches for\nbeing a Caribbean country, they asked a lot on that side\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you crossed to Europe, to play for Cagliari,\nin Italy, in those days Panama didn\u2019t do many tourism campaigns. Did people\nhave any idea of \u200b\u200bPanama?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen I go to Italy and France, mainly in Italy they\nask, are you Panamanian? And does he play soccer? They were lost, they did not\nknow where Panama was, you put a map on it and they did not know where it was.\nToday it is easier for them to know more about other countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In some way, Panamanian athletes, artists, musicians,\nare ambassadors and many wondered and investigated where I came from. They\nasked me what is in your country? When I arrived in Spain, the Homa brand came\nup to sponsor me. After a while, one of the representatives of the brand told\nme that he visited Panama for work, and told me that he was pleasantly\nsurprised, he did not know that we had so many skyscrapers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n What have been the experiences of coworkers\nvisiting our country and experiencing our tourism?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n “When I was the coach of Panama, I brought people\nfrom Spain to work as part of the coaching staff. They were delighted with\nPanama, and have actually started to explore it, even more than I have. They\nhave gone to places where I have not been like San Blas, and they have spoken\nwonders to me. One of them told me that he was going on vacation to Penonome in\nPanama and told me that he was going surfing. He already had everything\nplanned, when he returned he told me that he had been fascinated. “<\/p>\n\n\n\n What aspect of tourism do you feel we need to\nstrengthen more as a country?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI believe that we can formulate the most beautiful\nstrategies to promote tourism. If I go on vacation, I like to be well received\nand well treated, because in the end, tourists are clients. I think that is\nmore important then to have good hotels and the best beaches. The reception at\nthe airport must be exceptional as well as the stay. Customer service for me is\nessential as a tourist. For example, in Medell\u00edn, if you go shopping, you get first class\nservice. When I go to my country, I have always received good service, perhaps\nbecause I am a public figure, but I know that not everyone has received it\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What would Julio Dely Valdes be like\nparticipating in an awareness campaign to promote domestic tourism?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are many things that I would change, such as\nbad habits. The Panamanian loves his country very much and defends it to the\ndeath. But we have a culture issue, because I’ve been out of my country, and\nwhen I returned I have seen Panamanians with bad old customs, like saying that\nthey will arrive in five minutes, but they know they will be late and arriving,\nis like nothing had happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we got to the national team, that was common to\nsee a player being late. Some would always justified that he lived far away,\nbut others who lived in the same area arrived on time. Then what do you do? He\nis no longer summoned. In Panama we drive very badly, and we know it. But when\nyou live abroad for a long time, you come back and get scared, and you have to\nget used to it again. That is our culture. “<\/p>\n\n\n\n How do we need to elevate our culture?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDiscipline is needed. I practically made my soccer\ncareer more abroad, and as a coach as well. I have been enriched by other\ncultures. But it must also be that the problem is in Panama, because I am\nPanamanian, but I did not took those no bad habits abroad. That has more to do\nwith the education you receive at home. It is a problem that exists a lot in\nour families. I was lucky and I have always thanked my parents for the\neducation they gave me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the first moment that I have contact with the\nplayers, I set out my five guidelines, and they are marked from day one. And I\nwould tell them that whoever did not follow those guidelines would not be on\nthe team. From there, zero problems. It has to be like this!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n What advice would you give to the tourism\nauthorities that expresses what needs to be improved to promote our country\nbrand?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPanama always participates in the expo in Madrid, but\nas I have mentioned before, I think that the problem – for me – is in\neducation. I have experience it in other fields, but if the problem is education,\nit will exist in other fields. I believe in integral education\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our special guest is a living legend of Panamanian football and sports. He is a true globetrotter having played in Argentina, Uruguay, Italy, France and Spain. Whether as a player or coach, Julio Dely Valdes has left an indelible mark on the collective memory of our country. He is a methodical person and prepared in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3549,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3237"}],"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=3237"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3237\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3550,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3237\/revisions\/3550"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/esp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/IMG-20211018-WA0061-1.jpg\")
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