Assembly gets false information from Tourism boss

PANAMA’S TOURISM administrator Salomon Shamah provided false information  to the National Assembly on Monday August 19.

He had rushed to make  a voluntary appearance after La Prensa had revealed. earlier in the day, that the Tourism Authority’s $1 million web site, was provided by a former government insider, who got a direct  no bid contract. 

Shamah's big spending is one of a series by government officials that have recently been spotlighted.

Former ombudsperson Patria Portugal was removed from office by the Assembly for issuing a $250,000 contract for a website, and faces embezzlement charges.
On Monday Shamah claimed that Panama’s  promotional site Visitpanama.com web page, was ranked 6th in the world.
On Tuesday Alexa.com, gave the site a global ranking of 190,787 . The portal, which provides information about the number of visits to a website and classifieds it in a ranking, also highlights that 50.2% of visits to visitpanama.com originates in Panama, and only 8% in the US, a prime tourism target.
Shamah also said that the site needed 8 people to run it. This portal, which provides information about the number of visits to a website and classified in a ranking, also highlights that 50.2% of visits to visitpanama.com originates in Panama.

The portal also showed a dramatic reduction in visits in the last two months.

After his appearance, he attacked La Prensa and said that the exposure was politically motivated,