Panama. The Best-kept Secret

“WE'RE WORKING VERY STRONGLY ON A SUSTAINABLE TOURISM MASTER PLAN IN THE FACE OF YEAR 2025, WHEN WE'LL SHOW OTHER SIDES OF PANAMA THAT WILL SURELY ENTHRALL THE 21STCENTURY TRAVELER”, SAYS IVAN ESKILDSEN, WHO WAS PROMOTED TO TOURISM MINISTER IN JULY

Businessman Ivan Eskildsen, just 29, has been appointed Minister of Tourism when President Laurentino Cortizo put him at the helm of the Panama Tourism Authority, a country of 3 million inhabitants that plays a major role as the hub of the Americas, connecting, through Copa Airlines, all the main cities and countries in the continent.

An entrepreneur and financier who got a good name as of 2010 with the development of the Cubitá Boutique Resort & Spa resort on the Pacific coast, Iván Eskildsen took on this great responsibility now the world is still plagued by the COVID-19 pandemic. "We are living through unprecedented circumstances, but we have not stopped working, dedicated to this battle hand in hand with the private sector, from which I come, so there is no other choice but to roll up our sleeves and get to work on how to move ahead," insisted the man who also worked as a consultant for the Eleta Business Group.

If Panama does not function as a key, it is very difficult for traffic among Latin American countries to be maintained. What measures has the nation taken to make sure Panama's airport remains strong and what other authorities are you in contact with?

"We know the role we play as a country, which places us as a leader in Latin America. Before COVID-19, there was no other country with more airlines or flight connections in the region. I hope that will be the case after COVID-19, once operations are reactivated. We know that airlines have a hard time and that some will not get by.

"As a result of its professional work and international success, Copa is perhaps the airline best prepared to deal with this pandemic financially; adjustments are being made as necessary.

"Speaking from a health perspective, Tocumen International Airport, which before the health crisis was the most connected airport in the region, has been closely linked to the airlines, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) for the implementation of biosecurity protocols and procedures to ensure that, within the leadership position we hold as a major transit point, we can convey that confidence and safety to travelers.

"Our Ministry of Health has even been recognized by the UN, by the WHO, for the professional handling of the ongoing pandemic, the proactive and transparent way in which it has been handled and and the way we've been informing the world about all Covid cases and those who unfortunately died. In Panama, we also have the presence of the Gorgas Memorial Institute of Health Studies, founded since the time of the construction of the Canal, to address epidemiological issues.

"When the Canal and the first interoceanic railroad in the world were built, tens of thousands of people died here as a result of infectious diseases such as Yellow Fever. This institution was created to address this situation and has a history of research and proven outcomes. Today, it has become a strong arm in scientific research and complements the work of the Ministry of Health.

"We follow to the letter the standards of IATA, which seeks integration among airports, so that there is a unit in the measures applied in the terminals; also the WHO, under whose guidelines our Ministry of Health operates, which has in its favor the support and assistance of the Gorgas Institute, a unique entity in the region".

For a small country, with only three million inhabitants, Panama had a significant number of Covid infestations and showed a large mortality rate...

"I must say that, per capita, we may have had more cases than other countries in the region, but I must still say that we were the first to receive the virus, because of that same role we played as a hub. The important thing is that we have developed experiences to manage this situation and have remained stable. The idea is to continue

strengthening with biosecurity protocols as businesses open up.

"Likewise, the country is carrying out a certification process that will allow us to give that security to the customer and the consumer. I don't think everyone can say with the same certainty that they have been one hundred percent transparent, we were recognized by the WHO for the safety and professionalism with which we have acted.

"However, we are in a new world; we're living a new reality. It is up to us to reopen our economies with the greatest responsibility in terms of the use of protocols and to learn live with the virus until a vaccine or some type of treatment is found that will give us all greater security.

During President Varela's term, tourism declined dramatically, with a slumping sector, low rates, high unemployment...

"Unfortunately, we in the country have been victims of our own success. Panama, with its Canal, became the most important business center in Latin America. Known also as the capital of skyscrapers in the region, our banking was another very strong element of our economy. As these factors were in our favor, our great minds focused only on those axes and tourism did not receive the necessary attention, despite having numerous resources and very interesting and diverse attractions. And I am not saying that, but scientists who have documented the diversity and richness that distinguishes Panama from other countries.

"Thus, in the last seven years the country has seen a gradual fall, a hotel unemployment below 45% as stacked up against a 70% rate some 10 or 12 years ago. It has also witnessed, of course, a decrease or stagnation in the arrival of visitors. This is the situation that those of us who took on these responsibilities on July 1 have found, to which the

pandemic has been added, like a cherry on the top of the cake.

"It is up to us to rebuild from the ground up, and for that reason we are working very hard on a Sustainable Tourism Master Plan for the year 2025, when we will finally be able to show the world that Panama has been the best-kept secret; we will show other sides that the world has not seen and that will eventually enthrall the 21st-century century, the traveler of today and tomorrow".

There was a time in the tourism sector when Panama developed in just four years what it had not achieved in two decades: a work so outstanding that on several occasions the country nabbed the Excelencias Award. What are the strategies the country will follow?

"We want to showcase Panama as a small country which, when it emerged, was able to change the planet. We are proud of an institution like the Biomuseo, designed by Canadian Frank Gehry, creator of the Guggenheim in Bilbao, which explains how this was the last piece of land that emerged to connect the continents, changed the currents and the climate of the planet. At that moment, a land bridge emerged, a biological bridge that connected the biodiversity of South America and North America, concentrating that rich biodiversity in Panama that can now be appreciated by visitors.

"In effect, we will tell the story of Panama as the country that changed the planet, but also as the country of transit, as a natural hub, not only because of the airport and the Canal, but also because the Camino de Cruces and the Camino Real existed before, during the colonial rule. Sixty percent of the gold that came from South America to Spain passed through here.

"We can also refer to the immense cultural richness that characterizes us with seven living indigenous peoples, tremendously authentic, with their ancestral traditions, their fascinating universe, which is complemented by that impressive biodiversity that has made the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute be here in Panama for over a hundred years.

"It is also a vibrant city, the capital of skyscrapers in Latin America, a modern city inserted in a neotropical jungle. It is very exotic to be in a very comfortable hotel living the experience of the old town, a World Heritage Site, with all its culture and history, and that in just a 20 or 30-minute drive, you can be in the middle of the jungle, have the opportunity of bird watching, of climbing the 32-meter-tall tower at the Panama Rainforest Discovery Center and be in contact with that nature that we believe will be what

For the Sustainable Tourism Master Plan designed to achieve regional development, culture and environmental conservation, Iván Eskildsen, Minister of Tourism, received the Excelencias 2019 Award from Mr. José Carlos de Santiago, President of the Excelencias Group

visitors will be seeking after Covid, and all in a safe environment, with the facilities provided by a dollar economy, so I think ours is an interesting proposal.

"We are sure that travelers will come back to pack their suitcases, starting with the youngest ones who, like millennials, are the most interested in this type of authentic experience, in the native cultures, in this beautiful biodiversity that we complement with a navigable channel, one of the most important in the world, considered the greatest engineering work of the 21st century.

"The idea is to work on the public-private alliance through PROMTUR (the Tourism Promotion Fund), an entity that was founded by a 2017 law to give continuity to an international marketing strategy and is the arm that executes with us the international promotion campaigns. These are moments of change, challenges and difficulties, but also moments when opportunities show up and we want to cash in on them to show that other face of Panama".

How do you intend to promote this cultural and historical tourism outside the borders of Panama?

"We want to target a niche that we have identified: that of the conscious traveler, the deserving traveler, who is interested not only in knowing the sites but in having a meaningful experience. In its 2018 and 2019 surveys, Booking. com concludes that up to 70% of tourists want to travel with sustainable experiences. Having contact with these living cultures is an important trend.

"It has the value-added factor that it also makes a difference in the lives of these people when the tourist's dollar comes in. On the one hand, it reinforces it and on the other, it generates an economic opportunity that would not exist if it weren't for tourism, so that segment, which is spread all over the world, is also found in Panama.

"We will continue to put our smart money on that traveler who appreciates that there is an effort to conserve, that there is an authentic culture and protected and preserved areas, with a human effort behind it".

We are sure that travelers will come back to pack their suitcases, starting with the youngest ones who

What will happen to gastronomy in a country where the presence of the Panamanian Academy of Gastronomy stands out?

"Panama has been designated by UNESCO as a Creative City in Gastronomy, which recognizes that there is a great potential. Our multiculturalism is reflected in our gastronomy. Here you can eat wonderfully well not only in Panama City, but in those other parts of the country with very defined identity features. Gastronomy is another item that appears in our strategic plan.

"There is another element that is very closely related to it and that is coffee. Panama has the most expensive coffee in the world (up to 10,000 dollars per kilo): the Geisha, that not only grows in our land, but here it does so with characteristics that are not found in other countries. For that reason, buyers are willing to pay those prices for this coffee bean that is grown on the slopes of the Baru volcano. It's the volcanic soil that makes the difference. We're also talking about the highest point in the country. By walking a path, you can reach its summit and see from there both oceans when the sky is not cloudy. These are the wonders that make my beloved Panama so great". ●

We will tell the story of Panama as the country that changed the planet, but also as the country of transit, as a natural hub