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In order to provide national and international tourists with a quality experience, Iván Eskildsen, administrator of the Panama Tourism Authority (ATP), gave the order to proceed to the company RCContractors, Inc. to begin the remodeling works of the visitor centers of the districts of Boquete, Bocas del Toro and Pedasí, in a first phase.

The works will include curatorial services, design, manufacture and installation of interpretive exhibits and promotional material for the ATP. As a whole, they will cost $2,907,058.71, funds from the financing of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), within the framework of the Comprehensive Urban Development Program for Cities with a Tourist Vocation that is developed in the three destinations mentioned. It will also be carried out in a second stage in the districts of Tierras Altas (Volcán), Soná in Veraguas, Taboga, Cerro Ancón, Santa Catalina, Morgan Battery in Colón, Coclé, Herrera, Los Santos, and in more than 30 points with high potential. tourist in the country.

During the activity, Eskildsen pointed out that this is a project that seeks to bring world-class exhibitions, similar to those made by the Biomuseo in different tourist spots nationwide and in different stages of development. There are several contracts that are being executed with IDB funds.

“Our approach is that in each priority destination, the visitor or tourist can arrive and get to know all the attractions of the area, such as biodiversity, culture, people, and from there leave encouraged to discover and explore the destination in accordance with the Master plan. of Sustainable Tourism (PMTS 2020-2025), and in this way be able to position ourselves as a world-class sustainable destination, which is what our master plan points out as a vision”, emphasized the ATP administrator.

Eskildsen also indicated that it is a project that is carried out in partnership with the Biomuseo Foundation and is intended to fulfill one of the promises of the Master Plan for Sustainable Tourism, which is to turn Panama into a world-class destination, where everything has to story.

He added that the visitor centers are the starting point where national and foreign visitors discover the nature, culture, history, gastronomy, idiosyncrasy of the peoples, and then live the experience that they will later comment on to others.

For his part, Ovidio Díaz, president of the National Chamber of Tourism of Panama (Camtur), explained to this medium that with the restructuring of these visitor centers, these destinations are being given the opportunity to offer quality to tourists.

“As a pedasieño, it fills me with joy because who would have thought that we would have a small biomuseum in this part of the country. Tourism is the industry that offers the most opportunities at the lowest possible cost and in the fastest way, so we as a people support these initiatives because they directly benefit the community,” he said.

While Miguel Batista, mayor of Pedasí, recognized that the continuity of projects and work should be a public policy. “In fact, the municipality was the first to sign a tourist agreement with the ATP in 2017 and this led us to work hand in hand with the IDB, an entity that is covering the cost of this small biomuseum in the Pedasí Visitor Center” Batista says.

“This project is important to us, because both tourists and locals will be able to see first-hand our culture, folklore, this extensive biodiversity, and let’s begin to value it more and take advantage of it,” he noted.

The major added that Pedasí is one of the districts of the Azuero peninsula with the highest tourist growth, so this type of investment is necessary and other works that are of great need.

“People are the ones who play a fundamental role in the growth and development of a people, and if they do not understand where their authorities are headed, I think we are destined for failure. Pedasí has ​​everything to enjoy an excellent vacation; in fact, the Pan American Surfing just passed and now we are in the whale watching season. In addition, we have the Iguana Island Wildlife Refuge, a site where the largest coral reserve in the Panamanian Pacific is located, which makes Pedasí an extremely authentic place,” he said.

Also present at the activity was Emilio Muñoz, president of the Municipal Council of Taboga, who pointed out that he is very pleased that the ATP has included them in this important activity, since the island is a tourist destination that welcomes a large number of visitors all year.

In turn, he called on the authorities to help solve the problem with drinking water and wastewater, because he assured that “without drinking water and proper functioning of the facilities there is no tourism” and the island currently depends on this industry.

Long-term sustainable projects

Nicole Marciaga, head of Development of Tourism Products of the ATP, announced that they are working on a project for the governance of visitor centers so that they are sustainable in the long term and that they are in line with other ATP projects, to improve the tourist experience such as: 1,000 kilometers of trails, signaling project and Panama by nature.

For his part, Víctor Cucalón, executive director of the Biomuseo, explained that when the RCContractor company completes the work in the visitor centers of Boquete, Bocas del Toro and Pedasí, the Biomuseo Foundation will proceed to place the interpretive exhibitions in which the culture, biodiversity, history, folklore, gastronomy, among others, of the destination.

He added that the same world-class exhibition standard of the Biomuseo of the capital city will be replicated in the designs, to reveal the relationship between biodiversity and the authentic culture of the priority destinations, giving consistency to the tourist experience.

According to Cucalón, the history of the Panamanian isthmus is interconnected, which could motivate the conscious traveler to extend their stay to get to know the country as a nation and not focus on a single destination. “This project functions as a conduit that will help communicate Panama’s scientific, cultural, natural and tourist potential,” he said.

“The renovations of these centers also seek to provide correct information about the destination, provide spaces for innovation activities and community entrepreneurship that strengthen the region’s cultural identity and social cohesion,” Cucalón emphasized.

Upon completion of the work, the three visitor centers must record savings of 20% or more in energy, water and energy intensity of materials, and for this the use of renewable energy must be incorporated into the building.

The concept of the biomuseum was born in 1999 thanks to the Tourism-Conservation-Research (TCI) alliance, developed based on the scientific knowledge of the investigations of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI).