Location

About Panama

Panama is known to very discerning travelers as “The Path Less Traveled”, and it is also known for adventure and eco travel.

Photos by kind permission of Ilisa-Panama, Spanish Language School in Panama.

The Republic of Panama is a land of unrivalled beauty with unique natural, cultural and historical features. While Panama, as a tourism destination, is still in the early phase of development, existing resources and recent efforts justify a strong confidence in a sustainable qualitative and quantitative progress for the future of tourism. In the last few years, tourism has begun to develop into an important factor in the national economy and recent activities in this sector have led to an increasing awareness as a holiday, retirement and business destination. In fact, similar in natural beauty to its more well known northern neighbor – Costa Rica, Panama is 50% larger and has more than double the miles of coastline, and a quarter FEWER inhabitants.

Almost half of the country’s 3 million residents live in Panama City, leaving most of it’s beautiful beaches, tropical rain forests, pristine rivers and islands relatively untouched and waiting for you to explore.

The country’s most important man-made attraction is without a doubt the world-famous Panama Canal, which is considered one of the architectural marvels of the 20th century. The Canal’s spectacular construction goes through the interior of the rainforest, joining the Atlantic with the Pacific Ocean through the artificial Gatún Lake. The fascinating crossing of huge container vessels and cruise liners, and their elevation and descent in the locks, transform the Canal into a highly interesting attraction for nationals and visitors alike.

The 80km long Canal is one of the most important economic factors in the Panamanian economy. It is crossed by more than 13,000 vessels yearly and is considered the most efficient, safest, cheapest and competitive shipping transport route world-wide. The Panama Canal is a major generator of foreign revenue with recorded total revenues of around US$750 million in 2001. The confidence that Panama – and her international customers – have in the future of the canal was demonstrated in the recent vote to approve the expansion of the canal lock system. Read More!

While it has not yet achieved great recognition as a tourist destination, Panama has a unique opportunity to excel in the international tourism world and establish itself as an outstanding and unrivalled tourist destination. Panama was recently selected as the number one retirement community in the world by Senior Living. The country has a highly varied and attractive landscape with pristine rainforests and access to the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. The colorful history at the crossroad of the Americas adds to the well-preserved socio-cultural heritage with seven indigenous tribes living in ancient traditions. The capital, Panama City, is a cosmopolitan melting pot of economy and culture, providing some of the safest and most stable economic and political environments in all of Latin America .