Travel magazines boost Panama tourism hopes

While hotel occupancy, did not exceed 10% in the first quarter of the year, reports by two travel magazines could herald better days for the Panamanian tourism sector, hard hit by the measures adopted against the coronavirus pandemic.

The publications International Living and Smithsonian Magazine included Panamanian destinations among the recommendations that tourists should follow, as international travel has been reactivated despite the pandemic.

International Living, compiled data from islands that meet the right conditions for travelers to spend long stays, even settle permanently.

Isla Colón, in the province of Bocas del Toro, occupied the second position in the list headed by the island of Phu Quoc, in Vietnam. International Living says that a traveler can live with a monthly income of $1,200, an income that would allow them to access housing and a quiet life in front of the sea.

 Smithsonian Magazine made a compendium of the cultural festivals that should be on the list of travelers interested in knowing the artistic and ethnic expressions of other cultures.

The Congo culture festival, which takes place in Portobelo, province of Colón, is worth observing, since it is the inheritance of the descendants of the slaves brought from Africa to Panama in colonial times.