OFF THE CUFF: Panama hotel jobs continue to shrink

IF MAYOR Jose Blandon’s boast that  Panama City benefited by $8 million from his $3.7 million Disney extravaganza on December  6, is true,  it came too late for hundreds of hotel and restaurant workers whose numbers continue to shrink.

Like the unfulfilled blandishments of the previous tourism manager, Salomon Shamah, who claimed that his annual  $2 million plus, Carnaval noise and booze fest , on the Cinta Costera benefited  city hotels and restaurants it’s  difficult to verify  Blandon’s statements ( tax returns for Dec. are not yet in). But it  seems likely that   hotels and restaurants did not attract the thousands of locals who turned up to watch the overpriced Disney floats.

A report from the Comptroller reveals that the sector of hotels and restaurants has suffered a 3.5 decline in the number of people it employs.

The report shows  that between January and September, 29,722 people were employed in this sector, 1,077 fewer than the same period last year.

The drop in the interior of the country was 3.7 percent, while in Panama it was 3.4 percent.

Employment in retail trade grew 4.1 percent in comparison to 2014.

The growth in this sector was recorded only in the capital region, which grew 5.6 percent, while in the interior it fell 1.8 percent. Let’s hope that some of the reported $8 million created some new hotel jobs as the industry struggles with continually falling occupancy rates and restuarants jack up prices to balance their budgets