tourism

Master Plan nearly finished

LA PRENSA

fresh look: Spanish firm Tourism & Leisure has finished the draft of a plan that will guide tourism-based development. 1073977

The country’s much-awaited Plan Maestro de Desarrollo Turístico Sostenible 2007-2020, under development by the Spanish consulting agency Tourism & Leisure, arrived today in Panama, said Jaime Cornejo, the project’s national director.

The draft of the plan will now undergo review by the Comité de Seguimiento del Plan Maestro, which consists of the Cámara de Turismo de Panamá, the Asociación de Pequeños Hoteles, the Ministerio de Vivienda, the Instituto Panameño de Turismo (Ipat), the Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente y the Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas.

Then it will be submitted to the World Tourism Organization (WTO), the group assisting Tourism & Leisure with the project’s design.

Once finished, the plan will be exhibited across the country, and is expected to arrive in the capital on Aug. 21.

Comprehensive in scope, the plan offers an updated perspective of what the country has traditionally viewed as its highlights. Additionally, it includes a map that recognizes 26 areas as tourist destinations, rather than the nine currently identified.

For instance, instead of lumping the five regions of the province of Chiriquí into a single destination, the plan treats each one as a distinct destinations: Boquete, Highlands, Puerto Armuelles, the Golfo de Chiriquí and the Gnöbe-Buglé community, also known as Eastern Chiriquí.

“The Golfo de Chiriquí is very different from Boquete or the Gnöbe-Buglé community,” said Cornejo. “This way, [the plan] will better define what kind of tourist activities and products will suit which markets.”

The plan will analyze each of the country’s 26 destination based on the status of its land use, tourist-based activities it could generate and the personnel training necessary, among other logistical details.