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<\/figure>\n\n\n\n What were\nyour greatest motivations for coming to Panama and supporting the development\nof the master plan?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy first job\nin Panama came about through the World Tourism Organization. It was in 2018.\nAnd it was a first \u201ccontact\u201d visit with the country, the destinations, the\npeople, the institutions (public and private) and the Master Plan itself. An\nalmost immediate interest in the country awoke in me, I cannot deny it. Then it\nwas decided to update the Master Plan, and at the end of 2019 work began, new\nvisits, many workshops, meetings, presentations, confinement, difficulties moving\nforward, online meetings almost daily, and by September 2020 it was finished\nand approved unanimously in the National Tourism Council. I am proud for being\nimmensely lucky to have been able to participate in the process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n What did you like the most about Panama when\ntouring it, getting to know its people, destinations and culture?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, you’re absolutely right to mention the people. They\nare a wonder. I suppose that the peaceful climate, the absence of great social\nconflicts, helps to form the character of the people (!and vice versa\u00a1). The fact is that here in\nPanama I feel very comfortable. I have been able to travel a good part of the\ncountry, and in all places I have felt welcome, in beautiful places and\nattended by friendly people. Being so close to the ocean almost all the time is\nalso a very positive factor to me, I find it relaxing and very enjoyable. These\nare not very “tourist” factors, are the ones that I care about\npersonally.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n What was Panama like when you first came to Panama\ncompared to when you came back to update the Tourism Master Plan?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAlthough not much time has passed, in this year and a\nhalf it seems like a decade has passed. The pandemic has been the great disruptive\nin our sector, I don’t know if we will see something like this again, hopefully\nnot. However, in Panama there are no big differences, if I’m honest. Going back\nto talking to professionals in the sector, the same basic problems continue to\nbe detected, as if these two years had passed in \u201cStand by\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The original master plan was not actually\nexecuted, what do you feel now that will help the updated one to be executed?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, my mission is not to help its execution, I wish\nI could also contribute in that task. The non-execution of the Plans is a\nwidespread evil in many countries in Latin America and in the world. One of the\nmantras that was repeated to me during my first \u201cresearch\u201d visits to Panama\nwas: \u201ctourism should stop being a government policy and become a State policy\u201d.\nAnd I firmly believe in that statement, in all its depth and complexity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The implementation is proving to be very complicated,\nin a pandemic and post-pandemic environment, with many companies in a critical\nsituation, new urgencies and priorities and, in addition, drastic budget cuts.\nIt is the perfect storm against the implementation of any plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, in my opinion, a couple of very important\nsteps have been taken in the sense of promoting the sector from the State\n(\u201cState policy\u201d, the great claim): the creation and development of the Tourist\nOffice in destinations throughout the country , where different ministries\n(their highest representatives) sit together to agree on disbursements and\nunblock improvement projects that the tourism sector has claimed but cannot\nundertake on its own; and the creation, finally, of the Promotion Fund\n(PROMTUR), which is dedicated to the marketing and communication of Panamanian\ndestinations in international markets as an independent entity in its financing\nfrom the rest of state institutions. I honestly believe that these two\ninitiatives can contribute to turning tourism into a State policy. I hope it\nlasts for many years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What are the areas with the greatest tourism\npotential in Panama by region according to the master plan and what areas are\npriorities in the short and medium term?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n From a list of 26 destinations identified by the 2007\nMaster Plan, the 2020 Plan identified 8 priority destinations: Panama City\n(with Taboga), the Pacific Riviera, Portobelo\/ Santa Isabel, Pedasi\/ Tonosi, Santa\nCatalina\/ PN Coiba, Boquete, Highlands\/ Volcano and Bocas del Toro. These\ndestinations were selected for their high competitiveness (assessed by me\ntogether with the expert planners from the ATP), for the possibility they offer\nof acting as a complement to other destinations, and for their contribution to\nthe positioning of the national tourism brand and the vision of the Plan\nitself. In addition, the IDB financing line for the Comprehensive Urban\nDevelopment of Cities with a Tourist Vocation was taken into account, so that\nthese efforts would also benefit priority destinations for the Master Plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now in 2022 we are working with the ATP and the IDB to\nadd El Valle de Anton, Boca Chica\/Gulf of Chiriqui and the Las Perlas\nArchipelago as priority destinations, with their diagnosis, their recommended\npositioning and their Action Plan for the coming years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How can\ntourism associations such as CAMTUR and APATEL support the optimal execution of\nthe master plan?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The private sector has been, is, and will continue to\nbe the true catalyst for the growth of the tourism sector in Panama, given the\nintermittent and not always effective role of the State in its support for this\nsector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hence, these private sector associations are of key\nrelevance, since they bring together professionals and investors and,\ntherefore, they are clear about the priorities to be addressed in order to\nimprove the competitiveness of businesses and destinations. It is also\nnecessary to highlight the role of the multiple associations of a more local\nnature that, throughout the country, also channel high-impact projects,\nalthough with a lower budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What do the Panamanian people have that is\ndifficult to find in other countries in the region?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Many good things can be said about Panamanians. I like\nhow open they are with foreigners, I have noticed it many times. And I also\nlike their national pride, that recognition of the importance of the isthmus,\nof the Canal, of its past and recent history. Everywhere people smile, but in\nPanama they smile more, I don’t know how to explain it well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is a pleasure to feel good in such a vibrant place\nwith so much to discover. And that is fundamentally due to the Panamanian\npeople.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Photos courtesy: Augusto Hu\u00e9scar<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In this edition we break the tradition where the Special Guest is an outstanding Panamanian professional. On this occasion, the editorial team decided to turn it around and propose a guest who, although born in Spain, has travel our country in depth. He is an international tourism specialist where he has had the mission of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4280,"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\/4234"}],"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=4234"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4285,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4234\/revisions\/4285"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Compress_20220426_172436_6639.jpg\")
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