will national parks such as Pedasi’s Isla Iguana become a focal point?

With another tourism forum on the horizon (see end of article), I thought it was time for me to review my notes of the annual AMCHAM tourism forum, which was held in September of this year.  Nancy Hannah, the chair of the tourism committee at Panama’s AMCHAM, put together another successful and well attended tourism forum in Panama City.  The event took place at the Miramar hotel.  This was the fourth such event that I have attended and as somebody who has worked in tourism in Costa Rica for over a decade and in Panama for six years, my expectations for the event and perspective on its value are likely different than from other attendees.  That being said, here were my impressions of the forum.

A First Look At The New Tourism Minister

I went to get a peek at and hear from the new ATP (formerly IPAT) head, Salome Shamah. He brought along an entourage, including an associate who spoke about the infamous “tourism masterplan” and other goals for the new ATP team.  It was more or less the same shtick we’d heard for five years from the previous administration, so nothing huge to report there.

What WAS notable is that Mr. Shamah was gracious and interested enough to stick around the forum for several hours after he spoke. That’s something former Minister Blades only did in his final year in office.  I had another encounter with Mr. Shamah a few weeks later in Pedasi which was quite positive and merits a separate article. It is clear that “Salo” is a no-nonsense sort of guy, but perhaps a bit over-confident given that he has zero tourism experience. I am hopeful that he is a step forward from the prior administration.  He’s proven to be a very competent marketing/pr guy, as evinced by his winning campaign slogan for President Martinelli, “Los Locos Somos.”

An Array of Guest Speakers

Boquete developer and super-blogger Sam Taliaferro offered his qualified opinion on what President Martinelli can do to achieve his bold goal for Panama to become “The World’s #1 Place to Do Business”. Sam spoke about the need to foster small business growth (YES!) and create an environment that will attract entrepreneurs who can assist the organic growth of Panama’s “interior” provinces.  He also hammered on his belief (one that was hotly contested by former Tourism head Ruben Blades) that residential tourism is a necessary part of a sustainable tourism plan.

Glen Jampol, operator of the famed Hotel Finca Rosa Blanca in Costa Rica talked about best practices in sustainable hotel operation.  It was highly informative and I hope eye opening to tourism operators in Panama who are not yet keen on “going green”.  I really appreciated Glen’s attendance.  I suggested him as a speaker to Nancy as my agency in Costa Rica works with his hotel. I admire his efforts as a true pioneer in the green tourism movement.

Adrian Benedetti, the new Director of National Parks for the National Environment Authority (ANAM), cited the abysmal fact that less than 3% of tourists are currently visiting Panama’s ill-maintained national parks.  His goal is to increase the appeal of the country’s 82 protected areas. First on that list is Volcán Barú in Chiriqui, home of the country´s highest peak. I was thrilled to hear about this initiative.

KC Hardin, owner of Arco Investments, a company focused on the development of Panama’s historical Casco Antiguo district, gave a passionate plea for protecting Casco Viejo with a sustainable development plan.  He stressed the importance of creating a growth model that does not to cordon off nor shut out the “human heritage” that makes Casco so special.

Fidel Reyes, a hotel consultant, gave one of the more odd speeches of the day, citing statics that categorically prove that Panama tourism is growing faster than any region on earth, recession be damned!  I thought his creative use of stats to prove his beliefs was impressive, but I disagreed with about 98% of his points.

Province Reports

In a change to the usual format, there were then “area reports” from a select group of professionals who operate in each area.  Renee Kimball of the Tranquilo Bay resort in Bocas del Toro spoke on the community efforts to clean up some beaches and educate boatmen to be better informed tour guides.  Donny Estrada of Crown Land gave an emotion-filled chat about the community building efforts that their group is spear heading in the little known Caribbean coast of the Veraguas province.  Pedro Fabrega, owner of the Los Mandarinos hotel in El Valle Anton, spoke about the Cocle tourism cluster, a respectably organized effort among area business owners to co-promote their related businesses. A friend of mine, Ivan Morales, was unfortunately unable to deliver the Azuero Report due to illness.  Ivan is a Mexican born architect who works for a New York design firm tasked with building a beach estate near Pedasi for the Prince of Lichtenstein.

Final Observations & Suggestions

• New Format, Please! — I am personally worn out by the extremely long and tedious “awards show” format that has changed very little in six years. I think it would be far more valuable to those inside the tourism community if the format were changed to involve more interaction, more Q&A. Rather than having a few tourism “gurus” speak down to the audience, I want to hear what all those who are actually operating in the industry have to say. It would be FANTASTIC if a government official would even have one breakout session that’s simply a town hall Q&A.  Imagine that!?
• Workshop It — Dividing up the afternoon into multiple workshops would allow for even more speakers, moderators and attendees could then pick and choose which they wish to attend. This would make the day far less tedious and would allow for a lot more interesting and intimate discussions.
• Service, Shmervice — New ATP head Solome Shamah seems like a sharp guy, but his comment along the lines of “Panama’s service sector isn’t as bad as you all say, look at how great our banking and Canal services are!” won my “what planet are YOU on?” moment of the day.  Fidel Reyes won a close second with his repeated “Recession, what recession?” mantra.
• Lots of Back Slapping — The general mood and tone I got from the event was that Panama has already arrived and the war is won. It felt like an awards ceremony where we were all supposed to applaud our 5th place finish. I’m a little frustrated that there wasn’t more honest discussion about how far Panama has to go and the tough decisions we need to make to get there.
• Thank You Nancy — I thank Nancy Hannah for slugging out the planning and promotion of this forum every year and her undaunted belief in the future of Panama tourism, even when some of us aren’t so positive.

The AMCHAM forum has been so successful that other tourism forums are springing up.  Panama’s local small business chamber is holding one on November 24th.  Here is their press release below.  I hope that increased interest and discussion regarding the future direction of Panama tourism is trend that continues.

Tourism: the First Force for Development

The Panamanian Association of Business Executives, announced the launch of the XIV annual Tourism Forum -FOTUR 09 “Tourism: the First Force for Development” to be held on November 24 at the Miraflores Visitors Center of the Panama Canal Authority.

Tourism has evolved, its influence remains strong in the income and projection that our country has been receiving internationally through the years, the aim of this forum is to highlight how tourism is an economic activity in the short run which may become the main force for development.

The XIV Forum wishes to provide the tools necessary to make the tourism sector, working together with state, mark a positive difference in the economic reality that our country faces.

Among the topics being discussed in this activity are: Colon from cruise port to an international destination, the first 100 years of success of the Panama Canal, airport infrastructure for tourism development, legal security for investment in tourism, sustainable tourism development and Panama 2014: America’s Tourism Capital.

During the conference the chairman of the Committee on Tourism, Alberto Quiros Jaén, said there will be free transfer from the coastal strip to the Miraflores Visitor Center, courtesy of Adventuras 2000.

CONTACT: Yrisbeth Solano  ysolano@apede.org
Coordinadora de Comisiones
Departamento de Relaciones con los Socios
Asociación Panameña de Ejecutivos de Empresa (APEDE)

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Filed under: Business, Politics on November 18th, 2009