National Tourism Convention to be held in Panama in October
Under the
slogan “Tourism Panama, engine of economic development and communities, the
sixth version of the National Tourism Convention (CONATUR) and Trade Expo will
be held from October 25 to 26. This year, the event will feature the
participation of the Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization
(UNWTO), Zurab Pololikashvili, and other international speakers, who will speak
about the situation of tourism worldwide and its projections.
Source:
Periodico Digital Centroamericano
The
announcement was made by the National Chamber of Tourism (CAMTUR) and the
Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP), which since 2016 have held this important
event that brings together the main leaders of the industry sector.
The president
of CAMTUR, Ovidio Díaz, pointed out that CONATUR’s challenge this year is to
integrate the entire sector, so that they have the opportunity in this showcase
to present their projects and products. “Tourism is going to position itself as
the great national industry that will help reactivate the economy and give
Panamanians linked to the sector the opportunity to achieve their goals.”
For his part,
the administrator of the ATP, Iván Eskildsen, assured that the economic
recovery efforts are advancing positively for the industry.
Eskildsen
explained that the Comptroller General of the Republic reported four times more
visitors than last year, a figure very close to the visitor levels of 2019. He
added that by January 2022 the country was 45% different from the number of
post-pandemic visitors (2019), but indicated that this difference has been
significantly reduced, since by June 2022 we are 15% away from reaching the tourist
arrival levels of 2019.
He stated that
in figures this means that as of June 2022 we have a report of 800 thousand
visitors who have entered and it is estimated that 1.8 million tourist arrivals
will arrive at the end of the year.
Ernesto
Orillac, president of Conatur, indicated that Panama is a highly diverse destination
with impressive biodiversity, which should become the great tourist destination
of the world region in the coming years.
The academic
agenda is focused on how companies manage to take advantage of what is being
developed with the Sustainable Tourism Master Plan for their companies and how
communities are integrated into this effort, to continue building Panama as a
world-class sustainable tourism destination.
During the
meeting, workshops, conferences, round tables will be held, where topics such
as: Importance of the tour guide, adventure tourism and reinforcement of the
Master Plan for Sustainable Tourism (PMTS) will be addressed, with an effort to
rescue companies and competitiveness.
On October 26, the National Tourism Summit will be held, where the main actors of the government and private companies will be convened to address relevant issues in the sector.
These conferences
will be open to universities with an academic curriculum in tourism, as well as
directors and outstanding students from each house of study.
CONATUR is
aimed at collaborators and owners of travel agencies, hotels, airlines,
restaurants, tour operators, tour guides, among other unions linked to the
sector.
The National
Chamber of Tourism of Panama (CAMTUR) is an institution that is made up of
companies and providers of private tourism services, legally constituted with
the purpose of guiding and coordinating efforts aimed at the development and
promotion of all aspects concerning tourism as an economic activity. and
cultural, as well as carry out programs to promote or encourage tourism, among
other activities.