International visitors to Carnival up 73% – plus migrants

The arrival of international visitors to Panama during Carnival days increased by 73%, going from 57,044 people registered on the same holiday last year to 98,850 in 2024 festivities.

Samira Gozaine, director of the SNM, said that of the 98,850 foreign visitors who arrived in the country during Carnival, 72,173 entered by air, 19,406 through seaports, and 7,271 by land.

She noted that 12 cruise ships that arrived in the country during the last weekend with 19,184 tourists were served through the Colón 2000 terminals, in Amador and on Isla Coiba.

In contrast to last year’s Carnival season, the arrival of cruise ships increased 71%, from 7 to 12.

The flow of tourists through this route also increased, from 7,124 registered in the 2023 festivities to 19,184 this season, an increase of 169.2%.

Migration operation
Gozaine explained that in Carnival, 1,401 units were deployed and were present at 62 immigration points, in addition to 31 support points for the different security institutions.

A total of 8,117 foreigners were verified and due to immigration violations, 111 cases of job evasion were reported, 322 due to expired stays in the country, 205 people were not admitted and 28 relevant cases were registered. In total, 724 incidents occurred.

Regarding the controlled flow of migrants entering through Darién, Gozaine reported said that 52,281 people have been reported so far this year, 23% more than in the same period of 2023.

During Carnival 5,793 migrants were moved in t 109 buses from Darién to the Costa Rica border in Paso Canoas.