Opinion of FOTUR is a slap of “reality” to the opinions of Nito.
- By : James Bryson
- Category : Panama Tourism
Exhibitors at FOTUR 2022 agreed that Law 314 on incentives for investment in tourism is essential to attract investment
Under the motto, “Tourism: The road to regional reactivation”, the Panamanian Association of Business Executives (Apede) held the Tourism Forum, FOTUR 2022.
During the event in which lawyers, businessmen and government entities participated, it was possible to learn about the current state of the tourism sector, which according to the participants requires a law on investment incentives for tourism.
“We believe that the debated incentives for investment in tourism are positive, but they require further discussion and consensus-building for their correct application. Financing the tourism sector is complex and requires creative formulas like this to obtain it,” said the president of the Association Panamanian Company Executives (Apede), Temístocles Rosas during his speech.
He added that at this time the country requires fresh capital for specific projects in priority tourist destinations, “in times as complex as the ones we are experiencing today, tourism has great potential to become an excellent potential for Panama to become a great destination for the region.
For his part, Diego Vallarino from the Verde Azul Group presented the Case Study: Status of projects in the Pacific Riviera, where he pointed out that this region of the country needs new airlines that maintain affordable prices for tourists.
“The hotel and tourism industry has grown in Coclé but we still have to create a unity between the private and public sectors. If we work hand in hand we can achieve great things. We need to knock on doors to get new airlines to want to establish themselves in the country.”, held.
Meanwhile, the international speaker Gustavo Alvarado, director of the Costa Rican Institute of Tourism, spoke about the tourism tax incentives that have been implemented in the neighboring country for several years, generating jobs and at the same time clearly regulating how it is entered and how it is applied.
He pointed out that Costa Rica’s tourism incentives law dates from the 1980s and improvements have been incorporated over time to achieve significant growth in investors, with the proper controls for greater benefit to the country.
Speaker Sergi Lucas from Canal Securities highlighted the case of Selina, which has managed to attract investments with tax incentives, managing to develop hotel projects in Boquete, Bocas del Toro, Chame, El Valle and other regional destinations. I have highlighted that, only in the Selina Boquete restaurant, 40 new jobs have been created.
FOTUR 2022 also included the participation of Iván Eskildsen, administrator of the Panama Tourism Authority, Ovidio Diaz, president of the Panama Chamber of Tourism, Daniel Arévalo, Inter-American Development Bank, Felipe Ariel Rodríguez, Center for Competitiveness of the Western Region, Rubén Bustamante, CPA and CEO of BDO, Amanda Barraza, Denise Guillén, Deputy Administrator of the Tourism Authority of Panama and Jose Rafael Reyes, Morgan and Morgan, Jorge Olivardía, Sucre, Arias and Reyes, René Quevedo, labor expert.
No Comments