ATP jumps on the Black Friday bandwagon

With Black Friday is just around the corner, malls are preparing for nationals and foreigners in search of discounts. This is the first year that the Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP) will join forces with shopping centers nationwide to promote November 25th as Black Friday in Panama.

Black Friday has not always been observed in the country.

However, over the past few years, the shopping holiday has gained a following with hundreds of stores jumping on the bandwagon to increase sales before the holiday season.  

Now the country’s tourism board will also jump aboard with the main objective is of increasing revenue for hotels, transport, and restaurant and of course, promoting Panama as a shopping destination.

According to a statement issued by the ATP great results are expected since the country has been advertising in papers and airlines that travel to Panama. 

It is expected that this year sales on Black Friday will increase with many shops discounting merchandise from  25% to 80%.

While Black Friday will be held this year in Panama on November 25th, coinciding with the date on which it occurs in  North America, following American Thanksgiving. But Panama has opted to change the date for 2017 to take place in September. 

The decision to change the date was suggested by the Panamanian Association of Shopping Centers (Apacecom), a new association that brings together 11 commercial centers mainly in Panama City, Paseo Central Chitre and the Santiago Mall.  The general manager of the ATP explained that decision to change the activity next year to take place in September is because it is a slow month in Panama and there is a need to increase sales while not affecting the sales in December.