Mrs. Pitti, can you tell us about IPAT's new communication strategy? It's our understanding that you count on a $10-million budget to promote Panama in the rest of the world.

Through an international public bidding, the promotion, marketing and PR campaign was granted to one particular enterprise –BBDO Kechup International- which is the one company now mapping out Panama's promotion and marketing strategy worldwide. We've handpicked some very special markets such as the United States and Canada in North America; Spain, Italy, France and Germany in Europe, plus Latin American destinations like Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia and Peru where we have access through direct flights, as well as the majority of Latin American countries.

The German market has some distinctive features of its own. Are you developing specific agreements with its tour operators?

Right now, we're negotiating agreements with both tour operators and chartered flight operators. So far, we haven't received large scores of German tourists and we're dealing with tour operators interested in selling Panama as a destination.

What's the European country that traditionally sends the most visitors to Panama?

To the best of my recollection, I think it's Spain and for a lot of reasons, especially the language, the historic motives and the natural nearness between both Iberian-American peoples. Spain is the country that always sends the largest number of tourists. However, as we have set up direct flights connecting Milan and Panama, Italian tourism has been steadily on the rise and we're looking forward to increasing the number of Italian visitors through weekly flights all year round, not only during the high-peak tourist season.

What Italian and Spanish tour operators send the most tourists to Panama and have signed major agreements in the country?

For the time being, the most important agreement in Spain was signed with Vivatours. However, we're also working out details with AirEuropa and Halcon Viajes. As to Italy, we're in business with Dimensiones de Turismo – Laudair.

As far as Germany is concerned, what tour operators are going to be or you want them to be the ones working closer with Panama?

The point is negotiations are still underway and we're still shuffling several opportunities. We'll have a more definitive answer next month.

Is Holland a potential market for you?

The whole Europe is a potential market. Nevertheless, it's highly important to count on the necessary air connections and accesses, and in that respect we don't have that many direct flights with the Netherlands yet. Something is up in the air for the future, though.

Within the Panamanian promotional blitz, how do you shuffle your priorities and what comes first: nature, leisure, beach...?

We've got a pretty interesting blend of nature and adventure. A visit to Panama is quite an experience, let alone being a beautiful vacationing choice and the chance of your lifetime to get a nice-looking suntan. It's also a knowledgeable experience as you get in touch with people from other cultural backgrounds. In the country, we have seven indigenous ethnic groups that have managed to keep their traditions very much alive, traditions that we cherish and preserve.

Within the framework of what we call adventure tourism, what destinations are you exactly going to advertise?

Within that particular modality, we showcase Bocas del Toro, a very interesting area for windsurfing and scuba diving. In the region of the Archipelago of the Pearls (Archipelago de las Perlas), we have an exceptional fishing, as well as in Darien. In addition to all that, mountain climbing in the humid tropical areas and woods, hikes down the many trails to enjoy a close-up look at the natural wildlife of our tropical areas are two other choices. The territory of Panama is made up of over 29 percent of protected areas. It's really worth taking a peek into it.

What of your neighboring countries now developing that kind of tourism could pitch you a helping hand to make visitors drop in on Panama?

In Central America, we've been able to put together an integration, an alliance as far as tourism is concerned. Each and every one of our countries in the Central American area –Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador- have different features of their own. The idea behind this effort is to make all European tourists visit two or three of our nations in America and get in touch with their many cultures, traditions, cuisine and flavors. Visiting any Central American country is a wonderful must-have experience.

That is, you guys believe in multi-destination, don't you?

Yes, especially when it comes to distant markets, to European travelers. Just like an American traveler goes to Europe and visits Spain, France and Italy, the idea is to share all the knowledge an European visitor could learn among several Central American nations

How are you going to guarantee travelers' safety in these projects embracing more than one country with conflicting borders?

Well, let me tell you the Panama-Costa Rica border is probably one of the safest frontiers in America. None of our two countries have armies. We just have civil police officers and there's no conflict whatsoever between us. We can't complain about our sales of the Panamanian-Costa Rican combined product.

Mrs. Pitti, we'd like to ask you a more personal kind of question. First of all, we want to know how you professional career has fared all the way to your current job.

I started working in the United States. Then I moved to Aruba to teach equestrian, I also worked in a furniture-making company and landed in IPAT where I'm now serving my tenure as General Manageress.

How do you manage to combine your professional career with your personal life and your family?

I must say the heart of the matter here is that I've got a couple of daughters, 14 and 15, who are very proud of my job and are very understanding.

Have you ever faced up to any problem in your job for being just a woman?

I just can't recall any such situation and it's thanks in part to my education since I was a little girl: sports, competitions, especially equestrian tournaments, where there's no gap between genders and where your personal skills and the level of communication with your teammates and opponents are the name of the game. That's was kind of a school of hard knocks for me. I've been through no problem at all. I'll rather say being a woman has been quite an advantage sometimes, because people are always nice to you. We Latin women are used to that kind of treatment and we truly like it a lot.

Is there any other interesting comment you'd like to make to our readers?

Apart from the interesting experience of a visit to Panama to see and be a part of its different ethnic groups, the Panama Canal is a must-see, an extraordinary and marvelous piece of engineering work that's being run by Panamanians since the year 2000 with great levels of efficiency and safety. This is something we're very proud of and so we want the whole world to come and see it.