The first cruise ship of the season, the Regal Princess of Royal Princess Cruises, docked at the Amador Resort & Marina yesterday morning. The ship is carrying 2,200 tourists and 1,100 crew members. This is the first of 33 cruise ships that will arrive at the Pacific side and stop with tourists this season, and more than 100,000 visitors are expected to tour the various tourist areas of Panama City.

(Source) Tourism minister Rubén Blades asked lawmakers to extend the law which provides economic incentives for foriegn companies to invest in Panama until 2009. Ministers Alejandro Ferrer and Ruben Blades presented a bill to modify an article in Law #8 of 14 June 1994 about incentives.

We are a family-operated B&B Eco- lodge in Gamboa. We invite you to join us on a journey of enlightenment, sharing our stories about our country and our traditions. At the end of it, you will be able to depart knowing that you have shared a very special experience. As professional guides, it is a special privilege for us to be able to share with our guest and visitors explaining as we go into our nature, history and culture. mainly those of our magnificent rainforest ecosystems and biodiversity in Gamboa. Please visit our website to learn about us. Contact us at gamboaecotours@yahoo.com for more information. We are affiliated with and recomended by www.birdingpal.org.

There are two sides to every story. This morning in the newspaper there was an article about the development of the Casco Viejo section of Panama City. Back in the end of the 1990's a couple of people bought up some prime real estate in the old part of town expecting a return on their investment. Interest in Casco Viejo as a potential residence has risen relatively steadily over the past six years primarily due to the charm of the old narrow Spanish streets, the historical significance of the area, and the architecture. The government of Panama is now trying to force the people who purchased some prime buildings (at fire-sale prices) to do something with the properties. Many of them are just shells or empty lots being used as commercial parking spaces, which in some cases is the cultural equivalent of having a Walmart built on top of Plymouth Rock. The article prompted me to hook up with Clyde who lives in the area and have a wander. The theme - the two sides of Casco Viejo. You can paint it either way, depending on what you would like to accomplish. In this article I'll try to show several sides of Casco Viejo and leave it to the reader to form your own opinion.

As destinations reach to a more mature stage in the tourism life cycle, more sophisticated niche tourism products are developed by planners aiming to retain market share. Genealogy Tourism, also known as “ancestry” and “roots” tourism is one such product, which falls under the umbrella of culture and heritage tourism, and is travel aimed at visiting birthplaces of one’s ancestors and getting acquainted with distant relatives. It is generally considered as a viable option for tourism product diversification. In some countries, such as in the UK and Europe, genealogy has developed into a major hobby. The great surge in the US started in the 1930s, increased after World War II and intensified significantly after the publication of “Roots” by Alex Haley in 1976. Research in the US has found that Genealogy holidays are taken by enthusiasts aged 55-75 and over with comparatively high disposable incomes. This group travels as couples or with friends in small groups of 10 or more and spends an average of nine days. They are likely to enjoy non-strenuous adventure activities, visiting fairs, festivals, art galleries and cultural events. (more...)

(Panama City, Panama & Jacksonville, Florida, USA) 1,000 of the Travel Industry’s most important “Buyers and Suppliers” are gathering this week in Panama City, Panama, at the 30th Annual TravelMart LatinAmerica to arrange specific products and promotions to develop tourism into destinations in all Latin America Countries. Over 6,500 individual appointments have already been “pre-scheduled” at the ATLAPA Convention Center using a sophisticated system – Select-Match – pioneered by the TravelMart LatinAmerica Event Organizing Company William H. Coleman, Inc. TravelMart LatinAmerica has been one of the most productive Latin America Tourism business development events since the first Event was held 30 years ago in Lima, Peru. This is the third time TravelMart LatinAmerica has been held in Panama. All the business sessions at TravelMart LatinAmericaÒ 2006 are being held at the ATLAPA Convention Center. Delegates are staying at participating 4 and 5 star hotels, including the Caesar Park Hotel, Intercontinental Miramar, Marriott Panama, Riande Continental, Veneto, Four Points Sheraton, Crowne Plaza, Hotel El Panama and the Bristol Hotel.

By claire Morris: Tourists in Panama eager to experience “real” indigenous culture may be disappointed to learn that these Embará Indians buy their sarongs from an Asian importer. Time stands still in this village. Or does it? Parara Puru might be sheltered by the Panamanian rain forest, accessible only by dugout canoe from the Río Chagres, but the women who greet us as we climb the slope from the jetty wear cloth imported from Taiwan wrapped around their waists. As they lead us into the great hall—a massive open-air thatched structure—I notice tables crowded with intricate baskets and masks, carved wooden birds, and bracelets fashioned from local stones. These handmade wares are displayed solely for our group’s browsing pleasure, in the hopes that we’ll buy. And Antonito Sarco, this Emberá Indian community’s frontman, might be clad in a colourful loincloth and wear beadwork around his neck, but he’s relaying orders into a cellphone and speaking Spanish instead of his native Emberá dialect.

Nurys Sanchez, a housewife, is worried. She's afraid she will be forced to move from the house she's been living in for 40 years because it sits tem meters from the ruins of Panama's historic "Old Panama" area as part of a government rezonificacion. "I heard that we must go to us because all this will be tourist area", Sanchez said, who like other residents are afraid they will be forced aside by million dollar investments to build hotels and restaurants. The plan presented by the government a few days ago allows for the 10,212 residents currently living in the 50 hectare area to modify their houses and be allowed to either sell artisan crafts to tourists, or to turn their houses into bed and breakfasts. Authorities want there to be more crafts stores like Panica which is located in the Via Cincuentenario. The area currently does not look anything like a tourist area. They are few stores selling arts and crafts, no restaurants serving "typical" Panamanian food, and no hotels. In the community there are currently 163 sites, which are small businesses, improvised car repair shops, and little stores. The only exception is the Panica crafts store whose owner says that sales are very slow. "This neighborhood has grown divorced from the nearby Archaeological wealth, which draw signficant tourist traffic," says Julieta de Arango, the executive director of the Old Panama Patronage. Every year about 36,000 people visit the site, most of them foreigners with high levels of income. For Arango it is imperative that the residents of the area are not a threat to the historical monument, but rather participate in its benefits. But it is not a easy task. Greater training is requred, so that the community is properly informed, to offer the resources according to what each family can invest, to improve security and to finish the legalization of lands, said community leader Arturo Guzmán. "To me it seems that the best option for the sector would be to create a special zone allowing for a mix of tourism and residential use."

Celebrity Cruises has canceled the September 13 sailing of Infinity because of the need to replace one of the ship's two propulsion pods. As is usual, Celebrity is offering generous compensation to folks booked on that Alaska cruise -- they receive a full refund and a certificate good for a free voyage. According to the statement, released late this afternoon, "the affected pod's electrical system is failing to provide the ship's maximum cruising speed, essentially reducing it from 22 to 19 knots, making it difficult to maintain the ship's future itineraries as scheduled. The repairs will be made at drydock facilities in Victoria, British Columbia. Meanwhile, Infinity continues to sail safely and has received clearance from all appropriate authorities." The ship will return to service on September 24 following its drydock but a heads up to passengers booked on that cruise: the ship will depart on September 25 instead and the 15-night voyage will be shortened by a day. A call at the port of Cabo San Lucas has been canceled on that itinerary, a Panama Canal transit. Passengers booked on this trip will receive a $500-per-stateroom onboard credit and a $200 future cruise certificate. They also will receive overnight accommodations in San Francisco on September 23. Celebrity has established a special help desk to assist guests and travel agents with bookings on the affected sailings. That toll-free number is 1-800-852-8175.

The "Panama Lady" was inaugurated last night as a large capacity party boat for the Bay of Panama. They are going to run three nights a week out of the Flamenco marina. You can see images of the party here: http://dealante.com/nodo.php?nodoid=13373. Did I mention there was a boat involved?