Tourism increased by 6.4% as of August 2012

Yesterday the Panama Tourism Authority (ATP) presented its accountability report, highlighting their various achievements over the last year and part of this year.

Over the first eight months of the year, the ATP has received a total of 1,390,559 visitors, which is 6.4% more than the previous year when 1,306,836 tourists entered the country.

According to Salomón Shamah, private enterprise has played a fundamental role in the development of tourism in the country, due to the large investments they make to reach out to the main tourist markets and convince them to travel to the isthmus.

The ATP is working tirelessly to recover from current low hotel occupancy rates that the industry is facing.

The low occupancy is not because fewer tourists are entering Panama, but because of the number of hotels that have opened across the country, stressed Shamah.

Yadira González, director of the master plan for the tourism entity, pointed out that the 30 tourism farms that are certified by the ATP and MIDA frequently increase the inflow of tourists to the country.

Panama currently offers free life insurance for tourists to cover medical expenses for travelers who suffer a mishap during their stay in the country, ranging from hospital bills to death expenses. This insurance is valid only for their first 30 days in the country.