Tourism would take 3-5 years to recover
It will take three to five years for the tourism industry to recover, based on information from the World Travel and Tourism Council, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) said. It is one of the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic.
This was expressed yesterday by Olga Gómez, a specialist in the IDB tourism sector, during Cade 2020 "Panama at the Crossroads", organized by the Competitiveness Center of the Eastern Region, which includes Colón, Darién and Guna Yala.
The call was made by the Panamanian Tourism Association (Apede), Colón chapter, the Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber of Tourism and the Colon Free Zone.
According to Gómez, the hit by Covid-19 is calculated in a 58% drop in tourism revenue, in the most favorable scenario, and up to 78% in the worst case scenario.
"I think we are going to recover, but the biggest unknown is when," said the specialist. There will be a number of key factors for the restart of tourism activity, she added.
Gómez highlighted that one of the reasons why tourism was most affected worldwide was due to the restriction of mobility in almost all countries to avoid the spread of the coronavirus.
Tourism produces 1 in 10 dollars of gross domestic product worldwide, it also employed 330 million people before the pandemic.
The restart of the activity will be conditioned to the air connectivity. Many airlines are already making reductions in permanent fleets for the next five years. There is also an effect among people for fear of traveling.
The general administrator of the Panama Tourism Authority (ATP), Iván Eskildsen, said that part of the strategy will be to contribute to domestic tourism, while restoring global traveler confidence, once restrictions at airports are lifted.
One of the areas being explored is the development of projects in the Atlantic sector and getting out more assets and patrimony in the province of Colón.
The call was made by the Panamanian Tourism Association (Apede), Colón chapter, the Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber of Tourism and the Colon Free Zone.
According to Gómez, the hit by Covid-19 is calculated in a 58% drop in tourism revenue, in the most favorable scenario, and up to 78% in the worst case scenario.
"I think we are going to recover, but the biggest unknown is when," said the specialist. There will be a number of key factors for the restart of tourism activity, she added.
Gómez highlighted that one of the reasons why tourism was most affected worldwide was due to the restriction of mobility in almost all countries to avoid the spread of the coronavirus.
Tourism produces 1 in 10 dollars of gross domestic product worldwide, it also employed 330 million people before the pandemic.
The restart of the activity will be conditioned to the air connectivity. Many airlines are already making reductions in permanent fleets for the next five years. There is also an effect among people for fear of traveling.
The general administrator of the Panama Tourism Authority (ATP), Iván Eskildsen, said that part of the strategy will be to contribute to domestic tourism, while restoring global traveler confidence, once restrictions at airports are lifted.
One of the areas being explored is the development of projects in the Atlantic sector and getting out more assets and patrimony in the province of Colón.