“The future of tourism in Panama and the World” was the theme for this year’s 7th annual International Tourism Forum, which took place on Sept. 19 at the InterContinental Playa Bonita Resort. The Forum, hosted by the Panama American Chamber of Commerce (PanAmCham), was designed to allow tourism professionals in the country to learn from sustainable models of tourism at home and abroad.

This year’s feature speaker was Rohit Talwar, a market expert and futurist from London, who discussed trends in the world tourism business and how they relate to Panama’s situation in the world market.

“In my presentation I examined Panama in its own right, comparing it both to other countries in Latin America and looking at lessons that can be learned from the way in which the Middle East in particular has built its long term travel sector strategies,” Talwar said in an e-mail interview.

“I also looked at the implications of worldwide travel sector trends specifically and broader global trends that could have an influence on the tourism sector such as demographics, economic change, shifting patterns of wealth and environmental considerations.”

Talwar is a well-traveled speaker (http://www.rohittalwar.com) who uses his in-depth research and experiences on five different continents to inspire individuals, organizations and whole regions. He encouraged the audience to take advantage of market trends and drive them to where they want to be in the future. “Panama is an emerging tourism destination and Mr. Talwar helped our audience see the big picture of world tourism and how Panama can take advantage of those trends,” AmCham Treasurer Nancy Hanna said. Talwar suggested that two of the most important trends for the Panama tourism industry to watch for are the changing demographics of global wealth, as well as the increasing interest of travelers to minimize their personal impact on the environment.

Guest speaker Casey Halloran, co-owner of a travel agency that serves both Costa Rica and Panama, elaborated on that theme. He shared the five core values he believes are essential to creating a successful tourism destination in today’s global economy. He cited examples of successes and failures, including his own, to demonstrate how sticking to a core set of values is critical to success in tourism. His presentation provided some poignant, at times biting criticism of Panama’s current development and tourism path, making unflattering parallels to Jamaica and Cancun, destinations that Halloran and other experts categorize as “unsustainable”. He also pointed out the important dynamic between the tourism and real estate sectors, which he has observed first hand as a participant in both industries via his travel (www.vacationtopanama.com) and real estate companies (www.panamarealestatepros.com)

“At each forum there is someone to help us learn from mature destinations like Costa Rica and Mexico – the good and the bad – and it was Casey’s task to do that this year. He did a fantastic job of showing us the challenges ahead,” Hanna said. Halloran recently packed up his ten years of experience in the Costa Rican tourism industry to make the move to Panama, where he started a new branch of his travel agency and later, a real estate company. While Halloran continues to be inspired by the country’s potential, some of the road bumps that he has encountered along the way have seemed all too familiar to him.

“Panama is full of potential, but without a plan, seems destined to repeat many of the same mistakes that countless other destinations have made. With so many proven models out there of what works and what does not, “guessing” is just not necessary. I stressed in my speech that Panama does NOT need to reinvent the wheel, but it does need to create an authentically Panamanian wheel,” Halloran said.

To provide a local model of success in the field of sustainable tourism, owner of Finca Lerida (http://www.fincalerida.com), John Collins, spoke about how he managed to make a success out of this rural tourism destination, while maintaining strict environmental-friendly codes and standards. “We chose speakers that can address Panama’s most important tourism issues like conservation, thoughtful analysis of the sector and best practices. This year the best practice speech will be from John Collins,” Hanna said. During the four hour event, the Minister of Tourism, Ruben Blades, also presented the IPAT annual report to the tourism industry, which takes a look at successes and weaknesses of the past year, as well as plans for the future.

“Mr. Blades message was one of the steady expansion of the Government’s efforts to market Panama as both a tourist and an exotic destination, through frequent missions abroad and the use of all media channels, including the Internet,” Hanna said. Throughout the years, the Tourism Forum’s goal has been to promote the expansion, quality and improvement of tourism in Panama, while remembering to preserve the environment and the unique character of the country.

The increased success of this annual forum proves the country’s interest in and dedication to shaping itself into a sustainable touris

Casey Halloran has lived and worked in Costa Rica for nearly a decade and now resides in Panama. He operates a travel and real estate agency, http://www.panamarealestatepros.com.

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Filed under: Travel on September 29th, 2007