Panama and Cruise Tourism

(richarddetrich.wordpress.com) According to a recent article in LA PRENSA,

The number of tourists who came to Panama in April fell 0.1 percent in comparison to April of 2007.

According to data provided by the Instituto Panameño de Turismo (Ipat) 118,590 tourists visited the country in April 2008, or 72 fewer than in 2007.

The reason for the drop has been attributed to a decline in the number of tourists who come by sea— 42.7 percent fewer with respect to 2007. Sources at Ipat said several cruise ships have suspended their plans to stop in Panama.

In April of 2008, 24,506 tourists entered the country through Panamanian ports, or 18,281 fewer than during the same month in 2007.

Ricardo Ledezma, an adviser to Ipat’s general manager, Rubén Blades, said the cruise ship sector is somewhat unstable. “We don’t have specific data on how many cruise ships have stopped coming. Cruises can be canceled because of weather or for other reasons, but it’s not a market you can control from Panama.”

 Actually, Ricardo and Ruben, it’s more than that. There are factors that “you can control from Panama.” As I have mentioned earlier, perhaps Panama is not ready for cruise ship tourism. The drawn out and much delayed construction on the Colon road is referred to by cruise passengers as the “road to hell . . . and back.” No one wants to pay big bucks for a cruise and $100 for a tour of the Canal, Panama City or an Embera village and sit for 2 hours both ways on a bus creeping along the Colon road. The tour buses are substandard for this part of the world where the competition is Costa Rica. Panama tour guides are unprepared, speak barely understandable English rapid-fire-Espanol-style, and fail to show the enthusiasm or friendliness of their Tico counterparts. Colon, as a port for cruise ship tourists, sucks. The docks leave much to be desired and passengers are warned against walking around Colon.

The Panamanian cultural and business attitude of not caring about the customer is abundantly evident in tourist businesses from the top down. With Royal Caribbean homeportinga mega ship in Colon this fall, Panama has a unique opportunity, but I fear that with the Panamanian business-as-usual attitude Panama will once again shoot itself in the foot.

One poster on Cruise Critic responded to a question regarding ports that should be eliminated, “Colon, Panama: You don’t dare leave the port shopping area on your own - the surrounding area is burned-out slums. The bay is riddled with half-sunk boat wrecks and tramp steamers.” Every cruise line asks passengers to evaluate the ports they have visited. Enough bad reviews and the ships go elsewhere. So there is a great deal Panama can do to encourage cruise tourism. The fact that the tourist board, IPAT, says, “We don’t have specific data on how many cruise ships have stopped coming”, speaks volumes about not caring.