In order to strengthen common interests between Costa Rica and Panama regarding tourism and foster shared vacation packages, the tourism minister of each country, Carlos Ricardo Benavides and Rubén Blades, met in San José this morning.
Topics discussed in the meeting covered regulation of procedures, air traffic, sustainability, and border controls. The purpose was to further the bi-national agenda of the two countries with respect to tourism.
The most important aspect between the two countries is that both share common elements that strengthen marketing strategies, particularly among long-distance tourism markets like Europe. Add to this, the potential to share experiences in order to improve the quality of tourism services that both countries provide.
We spoke about various topics, among them, the possibility to work together on joint tourism packages, which would allow us increase tourism from Europe. Beyond commercial and tourism aspects, Costa Rica and Panama have a lot in common. We are natural allies and we strive to create a certain continuity regarding regulation between the two countries” said Carlos Ricardo Benavides, Costa Rica’s tourism minister.
Benavides added that long-distance tourism provides ideal conditions to establish a shared tourism strategy. His counterpart, Rubén Blades, believes that there are complementary promotional opportunities, for example, while Costa Rica offers eco-tourism, Panama can offer archeology and culture.
Exactly because of this topic, the respective presidents of each country’s tourism board will be invited to gather together to take steps to establish a complementary agenda that identifies similar aspects in Costa Rica as well as Panama with respect to quality, services, and promotions.
The meeting dealt with various points. Panama is interested in developing a series of programs like that which has been successfully carried out in Costa Rica, with respect to sustainability and the Sustainable Tourism Certification (CST). We want to apply guidelines like the Tourism Declaration that allows us to categorize hotel services, as well as create joint tourism packages to help us enhance vacation spots and consider border control regulations. In addition we have the participation of various institutions like immigration,” said the Panamanian minister, Rubén Blades.
The state official added that both countries are willing to explore the topic of air traffic through shared air space policies, which will encourage the flow of tourism traffic between the two countries.
One of the topics that Costa Rica will be sharing its experience with Panama is process simplification, an area in which its neighbor to the south has made great strides in improving services to business owners.
