OFF THE CUFF: Visitor spending up nearly 15%

VISITOR spending in Panama jumped 14.7% in the first quarter of 2015 and reached $1.29 billion.

A General Accounting Office report shows that 2,395,000 people entered the country in the first quarter, an increase of 8% over the same period last year.
The figures are significant when combined with the recently reported 5.9% growth in the economy in the first quarter, while critics, perhaps distracted by the predominance of reports on corruption, claim the country is moving too slowly.
Of this amount 1,546 000 were people in direct transit and crew members via Tocumen International Airport.
In the same period, 849 000 people were visitors (tourists, hikers and cruise passengers), 5.8% more than the first quarter of 2014.