tourism

New fund created to finance plan

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David Mesa/La Prensa

solvent: Tourism officials say a tourism fund will help Panama compete with Costa Rica as an up and coming destination.1082422

The country’s Tourism Development Master Plan might not be ready until October, but the law establishing the trust meant to ensure the plan’s long-term financial support goes into force tomorrow.

The law creating the Fondo Nacional de Turismo (Fonatur), with an initial capital of $4.7 million, was approved in February with the understanding that it would be financed by a new tax. That tax has encountered some resistance, since private businesses stand to benefit most from the plan.

Under the new law, Fonatur will receive no less than 50 percent of the ordinary income and 75 percent of the extraordinary funds collected by the new Autoridad Nacional del Turismo (Anat). And, if that’s not enough, Instituto Panameño de Turismo (Ipat) Director Rubén Blades says the fund will also benefit from personnel cutbacks at the agency, and international donations.

With the annual revenues of Anat expected to reach $30 million over the coming years, the master plan fund should be able to count on around half of that figure.

Jaime Campuzano, president of Cámara de Turismo de Panama (Camtur), stressed the importance of setting aside those $15 million, since Fonatur represents the future of promoting the country as a competitive tourist destination. That sum has even more significance now that Panama’s neighbor, Costa Rica, has recently requested increasing the budget for advertising its tourism industry to $20 million annually.

Campuzano explained that the tourist authorities agreed the funds should be contained in a trust, so as to guarantee that the monies will be used exclusively for the purposes stipulated by the law. It will be overseen by an advisory panel.