12 reasons to visit Panama

Hub of the Americas

Panama has long been a cultural crossroads for the world. Grandiose, dramatic, spanning an entire continent: the Panama Canal is synonymous with the country it bisects. The world´s most concentrated highway of commerce, in fact, birthed the nation of Panama, and cosmopolitan Panama City basks in wealth brought by the canal´s liquid power.

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Mouthwatering Food

Panama´s uniquely flavorful native cuisine melds indigenous, Spanish, and African influences into a mouthwatering mélange of dishes. The fusion of international flavors abounds in Panama City, which competes with metropolitan cities around the world for the variety and quality of its cuisines. And gourmands will find no shortage of hip fusion restaurants.

Kaleidoscopic Landscapes

Despite its diminutive size, Panama is a microcontinent unto itself. Its landscapes are kaleidoscopic, and scenery changes around every corner. The terrain varies from rain forest as lush as the biblical Garden of Eden to cloud forest steeped in swirling mists atop the volcano. From semi-desert to jungle-like mountain forests, Panama´s range of terrains reflects the full diversity of the tropics, and each region is as distinct as a thumbprint.

Chagres National Park
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Luxuriant Flora & Fauna

Panama is a meeting point for the biota of the two Americas. The bountiful country hosts more than 10,000 known plant species, including more than 1,500 varieties of trees and at least 678 fern species, some 13 feet tall with fiddlehead fronds that could grace titanic cellos. Ornithologists´ hearts take flight in Panama, which boasts an astounding 960 species of birds, 12 of them found only here.

Sloth at San Lorenzo NP
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Distinctive Culture

From Afro-Caribbean rhythms to classical music and racy jazz tunes, Panamanians are proud of their vibrant cultural scene. The country is incomparably rich in folkloric tradition. Classical and contemporary music are vibrant avatars of the nation´s lively cultural spirit, recalling rich indigenous traditions that predate the Spanish arrival.

Panamanian Carnaval
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Grandiose Panama Canal

Simple in conception, monumental in scale, and a work of genius in design and construction, the Panama Canal is a supreme triumph of humanity over nature. The largest and the most costly human endeavor ever mounted to its day, the canal´s completion cut ten days off the sea passage around the Horn and elevated the nation to a position of supreme strategic importance.

Cosco Panama neo-Panamax ship crossing the new locks

Breathtaking Historic Sites

Founded on August 15, 1519, as the first city along the Pacific shore, the Old Panama is today a national monument and an archaeological treasure. A restoration project has resurrected parts of the ancient enclave, allowing visitors to appreciate what was once one of the wealthiest cities of its time.

Santo Domingo church at Casco Viejo
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Cosmopolitan Panama City

World-class on many levels, this vibrant financial capital teems with cosmopolitan restaurants, hotels, and nightlife. The historic quarter is chock-full of churches, small museums, and pocket-size plazas, while nature and the Panama Canal are never far away. At once both colonial and contemporary in mood and setting, Panama City is the most sophisticated metropolis between Miami and Maracaibo.

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Top-of-the-class Hotels

Panama City is blessed with top-of-the-class hotels to international standards. These range from small, family-run boutique hotels that combine intimacy and charm to high-rise international chain hotels, with a great number of rooms and with splendid business and convention facilities. Several hotels have casino, too!

Hotel Buenaventura by Authograph Collection

Shopping Mecca

As a major crossroads of the world, Panama is a shopping mecca, not least for such high-end goods as jewelry and designer clothing. The Colon Free Zone is one of the world´s largest free-trade zones that supplies many retailers in Panama City, which pass on the benefits from low freight costs.

Soho mall Panama

Sparkling Nightlife

You don’t have to experience 5 days of Carnaval to know that Panamanians are party-loving people. When the sun goes down, Panama City lights up with a vibrant scene that caters to all ages, interests, and levels of stamina.

Lazotea rooftop bar & restaurant

Stunning beaches

Uniting Central America with South America, with coastline along the Caribbean Sea, the Pacific Ocean and thousands of beautiful islands, Panama is home for some of the most picturesque and brathtaking beaches of our planet. A little country in Central America that has all you looking for and more. Whether you are looking to relax in calm and clear waters or searching for something that will make you feel alive such as surfing or snorkeling, Panama has got you covered. Read our guide to get inspired for your next trip.

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Panama will offer tourist packages for its “coffee circuit” to be launched in 2019

The Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP) announced that it will launch a coffee circuit in various places in the western province of Chiriquí, the main producer of the best specialty coffee beans to promote it as their new tourist product in the country.

“This project seeks to highlight the value of the grain that is produced in this region and position it as a Destination Brand, with a
seal of quality,” said the administrator of the ATP, Gustavo Him, during the third edition of the National Convention of Tourism (Conatur).

The initiative executed in partnership with the Ministry of Environment (MiAmbiente), the Chamber of Tourism of Chiriquí and the Center for Competitiveness Foundation of the Western Region, will be officially presented in January 2019 with promotional packages.

Him said that these packages will include special fees, hotels and tour operators that will take care of the excursion through the farms.

Also, this project aims to accompany the owners of farms for coffee production, to try to incorporate them into tourism activities and
take advantage of it. In this sense, the entity trains site guides, teaches tourism, gives courses of culture, tourism animation on farms
and digital marketing.

The coffee circuit will cover the farms of the districts of Boquete, Tierra Altas and Renacimiento, land that produces vegetables, legumes, flowers, milk and mostly coffee.

The director of Tourism highlighted that these areas concentrate a great variety of landscapes, adventures, biodiversity, scheduled
events and high quality services.

“The product we are developing is a touristic circuit where the national and foreign tourists can live the experience of visiting
coffee farms and witness the whole process: sowing, packaging, tasting the product, but especially having that direct contact with the peasant who carries out this work,” he said.

In recent years, the aromatic coffee has positioned itself as one of the most important agricultural products of the Panamanian highlands, since it has exotic varieties of grain such as geisha, the jewel of the coffee crown.

In 2016, coffee represented 0.6 percent of total food exports, increasing to 1.2 percent by 2017, according to official figures.

EFE