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Teodolinda Quintero, Tourism Investment Director with the Panama Tourism Authority (ATP)

2012: A Year of Tourism and Hotel Expansion

Panama is making headway in its effort to become a major world-class travel destination, and with that view in mind in 2012 the nation has 27 new hotels under construction for a grand total of 6,000 new rooms a year and a half from now, let alone the creation of 5,000 new jobs. One of the challenges for the country is keep high occupancy rates in the capital by means of an increasingly larger hotel offer and the strengthening of business travel. This interview deals with those perspectives for the sector.

What role does the Panama Tourism Authority play in the growth of the country’s hotel sector? We’re encouraging investments in that sector under the current Tourism Incentives Act (Act 8 dated June 14, 1994) that brings many benefits for those interested in the business, like the possibility of importing materials and products that are unavailable in the country in sufficient quantities and quality. The Tourism Authority’s Tourism Investment Division has helped to hasten those import processes in a bid to give constructions a boost in line with the schedule and guarantee all hotels to be ready on time. In addition, there are other incentives within the act, like tax exemptions on properties or income. What new hotel chains or companies landed in the country in 2011 and what new facilities did they open? RIU, the Westin Playa Bonita Hotel, the Hilton DoubleTree, the Esplendor Hotel, the Trump Ocean Club Hotel & Tower and the Terranova Hotel, just to name but a few. What about 2012? There are currently 27 new hotels under construction. I can mention some of the projects by their names. In the city of Panama, for instance, the Hotel & Suites Cosmopolitan should open this year. The Start Bay Tower by Hilton and The Penthouse Tower Hotel are also in the works. In Via Israel, we have the Fontanella Pacific Plaza Hotel, from the same owners of the Roma Hotel who have been in Panama for many years. We also have smaller hotels (boutique hotels) which are being refurbished or remodeled, like the Casco Antiguo and the Casco Viejo hotels. In the banking area, we have the Ritz Plaza Suites Hotel, that won’t take that long to open; the Metropolitan Hotel, the NH Hotel, the Miraflores Hotel, the Hyatt Place Panama and the Megapolis Hotel & Suites (Hard Rock), which is one of the largest ones. In the Obarrio area, we also have hotels under construction, like the Sortis and the Rynpen. There are also projects underway for the Ramada and the Days Inn & Suites in the Albrook Mall area. These are small lodgings for who people who want to cash in on their shopping sprees here. As far as the Pacific beach area, we have the Condo Hotel Ibiza Playa Corona and in the city of Santiago, in the province de Veraguas, the Mikonos Hotel is about to be finished. This establishment is going to kind of ease the existing demand for rooms in the central provinces. RIU announced the opening of a beach hotel in Panama. Is that so? Yes, they’re in negotiations to open a hotel in the Pacific Zone. Once it’s finished, I assume they go to the ATP to request their registration under the Tourism Incentives Act. Is there any of these hotels operating as all-inclusive resorts? The all-inclusive hotels in Panama are the Decameron and more recently the Sheraton, located in the Bijao Beach project in the Pacific Zone. Alongside the plans to achieve high occupancy rates and step up hotel growth, a new convention center is being built in Amador. How is it faring right now? We’re already working on the list of charges to submit it to tender and the idea is to have it ready in late 2014. Has the ATP planned to pour funds into staff training in an effort to step up the quality of the tourism service? We’re of course supporting everything related to staff training for those who will be working in the travel sector. For examples, the Panama Hotel Association is working on the identification of professions and the kind of employees that will be required, including their language skills. As the institution that guides tourism in the country, we support them in everything they need to carry this through. We also support the INADEH in this kind of training. They always count on us, request personnel and consultants from us and we’re always out there, ready to help them. At the Tourism Investment Division, we count on the right staff to help hotels that apply for training. Have the quality certification standards been already established? Yes, we now have all Tourism Quality Standards for three segments –hotels, travel agencies and tour operators, as well as travel guides. As we speak, we’re conducting a pilot program to implement quality standards in 30 tourism companies that will eventually get their tourism certificates. Who are the members of the qualifying jury? The ATP counts on a Spanish consulting company specialized in this field and the support of the Tourism Chamber, an entity that gathers the country’s tourism companies. Once we have the necessary standards to handpick the companies as authorized certifiers, ready to implement quality standards in the nation’s travel companies, that information will be posted on our website in order to have the largest number of certifier applicants ready to assess the different travel and tourism companies. Is this certification process completely voluntary? Even though it’s true the Tourism Quality Certification is voluntary, those companies to be certified will get new benefits under the Tourism Incentives Act scheduled to win passage, together with the massive promotion of the Quality System and its brand, both nationally and internationally. This will make many companies want to get their quality certification and make the most of all the benefits coming with them. Then you will have to inform the guidelines and standards for everyone to know. As soon as the companies are ready, we’re going to have a big launch domestically and overseas to spread the word and market both the system and the quality trademark. When are you planning to launch the quality trademark? This year we’ll officially launch both the brand and the program. So far we’ve only done that through interviews. The press knows this is going on, but we don’t have the first certified tourism company yet and we haven’t either rolled out the Quality System’s official brand and trademark