With its ever-growing skyline and expanding infrastructure, Panama City is Central America’s city of the future. And the meetings and incentives segments are a big part of that future, thanks to an unprecedented boom in hotel construction as well as new meeting and event space that includes an eye-catching museum by a world-famous architect and plans for a massive new convention center.
Of course, the group angle is just one part of Panama City’s impressive growth. Ticking off a list of the city’s latest developments has become ever-more time consuming.
This year, the city unveiled Central America’s first urban rail system (the Panama Metro), as well as the Biomuseo, a biodiversity museum that is architect Frank Gehry’s first creation in Latin America. Still in the works is a second terminal at Panama City’s Tocumen International Airport. And while construction of the $750 million Amador Convention Center is delayed, the facility is expected to help place Panama City even more firmly on the map for meeting and incentive planners when it does open.
“Panama is the best place to host an event in Latin America at the moment,” says Carlos Diago Heilbron, general manager of the Las Americas Golden Tower, a new hotel that’s a member of Preferred Hotel Group. “There are many important companies based in Panama, such as P&G, Caterpillar, Unilever, LG, Samsung, Johnson and Johnson and Citigroup, along with many banks and worldwide airport connection companies.”
Anthony Emanuelo, vice president of operations for Latin America and the Caribbean at Wyndham Hotel Group, agrees about the allure of Panama City for international meetings.
“Not only does Panama host more business conferences than any other country in Central America, but this year the city of Panama was recognized as the leading business travel destination [for] 2014 by the World Travel Awards,” he says.
And things are only looking up, according to Jonathan Zelcer, operations manager at Truly Panama, a local DMC.
“Panama will keep having sustainable growth in this sector,” he predicts. “Some of the reasons are its strategic geographical position [and] easy connectivity with Copa Airlines and many other new airlines from Europe with direct flights.”
Zelcer is especially optimistic about Panama City’s future.
“I believe that if we keep offering and improving what we have, the demand will easily double within the next five years, as more and more companies—especially in the United States—are looking for new and fresh destinations to bring their associates,” he says.
The city’s potential continues to attract more investment, according to Annie Young, president of Eco Circuitos, another local DMC.
“The country has flourished in recent years, and you can feel it in the fusion gastronomy, new hotels, access to culture, annual festivals and the opening of the new biodiversity museum designed by Frank Gehry, which is already attracting travelers from around the world,” she says.
The onus is on the tourism office and hoteliers to get the word out, according to Andres Korngold, director of business development for both the 347-room Hilton Panama, which opened this year, and the 248-room Waldorf Astoria Panama, which opened in 2013.
“We need to expose the destination to the outside world and work together to bring the many conventions, associations and different organizations,” he says.
The new Amador Convention Center—which sits partially constructed on the Amador Causeway near the entry to the Panama Canal and adjacent to the Biomuseo—is also important, but Korngold notes that continued delays are hindering the benefits.
“We’re talking about a convention center that will be state of the art and beautiful. But we aren’t selling it yet,” he says. “Our message to the government is that we don’t want this to become a white elephant.”
Hotel Heaven
The new convention center may be on hold, but new hotel construction—and the thousands of square feet of meeting space that these projects include—is most definitely not.
There are nearly twice as many hotel rooms in 2014 as there were in 2007, according to statistics from Marketing Challenges International, a company that has worked to promote the destination. And the jump from about 7,000 to more than 13,000 hotel rooms means even more options—and bargaining power—for planners.
“Having this kind of hotel growth is good for the destination, since it puts Panama on the radar for meeting planners that would have never considered this destination before,” says Gabriela Herrera, director of international sales at Bern Hotels & Resorts, a company that owns multiple properties, including the InterContinental Miramar, the Westin Playa Bonita and the Westin Panama. “Panama is a buyer’s market.”
John A. Cardona, director of sales and marketing at Trump Ocean Club International Hotel & Tower, which this year debuted a new, 75,000-square-foot casino, agrees.
“Hotel occupancy rates have been in a precipitous decline since 2011, and the increase in visitors is exceeded by the increase in the number of available hotel rooms,” he says.
The time is right for planners to get the best deals in Central America’s fastest-growing city.
