Panama: Identities of Casino Shareholders, Owners Confirmed
Story by La Prensa
Former President Ernesto Pérez Balladares (left) and his friend and one-time Housing Minister, Roosevelt Thayer.
It took the government less than 24 hours to uncover the truth behind the scandal involving the country's two heavyweight gaming companies.
Roosevelt Thayer and Enrique Pretelt, two intimates of former President Ernesto Pérez Balladares, have been revealed as shareholders of Lucky Games and Gaming & Services of Panama.
After the two companies merged, in 2007, CIRSA Panama, a subsidiary of the Spanish multinational firm, purchased 71 percent of the shares. Pretelt and Thayer each own half of the remaining 29 percent.
Until this week, Thayer, a friend and former official of Pérez Balladares' administration, and Pretelt, the former leader's son-in-law, had managed to obscure their connection to the company.
On Tuesday, however, official sources reported that the company had presented share certificates belonging to the two men to the Gaming Control Board, which had asked for that information.
Now the Executive Branch has asked for records of dividend checks paid by the two companies so as to trace the money trail back to the source of operations.
Gaming & Services of Panama and Lucky Games operate some 23 slot machine halls throughout the country. The former disbursed $20 million to win the public solicitation in 1997 and some months later, sold a quarter of its shares for just $250,000. Records show that Pretelt and Thayer were the beneficiaries of this special sale price.
Lucky Games, meanwhile, received a direct grant in 1996 from the Pérez Balladares administration. The owners of the company turned out to be none other than Thayer and Pretelt, though they kept their identities hidden behind a figurehead.
Between 2005 and 2008, the two companies' combined revenue totaled $ 226 million, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. According to bank records released to this newspaper through transparency laws, a portion of those profits was transferred to Shelf Holding Inc., a company with ties to former President Perez Balladares.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Panama Railroad is a National Tresure
The railroad is a national treasure
story by Sherly Diaz / The Panama Post
Thomas Kenna, Marketing Director for Canal Railway Company It´s one of the main attractions of the country
The government of Panama gave Canal Railway Company (PCRC) a grant for the development, construction, management, renovation, reconstruction and direction of the Panama Railroad.
The bulk of the railway business is the transportation of containers. Its record year was 2008, when 360,000 containers were moved.
The railroad offers shippers the opportunity to increase ports' coverage with less ships, in a faster way and with cost savings. It has also become a major national tourist attraction.
Marketing director of the PCRC, Thomas Kenna, is one of the master pieces in the operation of the railroad, since his responsibilities were to design the business plan of the railway, to know who the customers would be, which would be the operation of the railroad and whether it would work with passengers or not.
This executive, who is currently the President of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), earned his bachelor's degree in Science at the Ford State University in the United States. He then returned to Panama and the Kendall Company, affiliated to Colgate Palmolive, made a job offer to him as Production Manager of Curity brand products and he decided to stay to work for a while.
At this company he worked for three years. Later, he had the opportunity to work in the maritime field. He traveled to Hamburg, Germany, to work with the ship builder company Hapag-Lloyd, where he received an intensive preparation in the maritime area.
Kenna has a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Nova Southeastern University, which he obtained while working at the shipping agency.
He returned to Panama to work with Continental Agencies, which was the representative of Hapag-Lloyd in the country. He started in the area of marketing and eventually became General Manager. He worked 15 years for this company. He was also General Manager for Air France airlines.
Kenna shared with The Post Panama more than half an hour of his time to talk about his career, the beginning of the Panama Railroad, its development and future plans.
How did you become involve in the railroad, if you were in the maritime area?
In 1998, the Panamanian government decided to privatize the railway. In 1999, railway owners began to rebuild it and formed their work team.
The owners had great railway knowledge, but within the group there was no one who understood or knew about the maritime world, so they made an offer to me to join the group as marketing director. My responsibility was not only to cooperate in the reconstruction of the railway, but I had to implement marketing programs, visit customers or ship builders and shape the business area. This was in 1999 when the railway was still under construction.
I thought it was an interesting challenge, because the rail is a national treasure and these are opportunities that don´t present anytime and even more interesting, because the ship builders said that the railway would not work because the route was very short.
At that time it was my responsibility to give shape to the commercial area of the company, to who the customers would be, to define how the operation of the railways was going to be, and whether we were going to work with passengers or not.
How has the railway business changed since its inception to date?
We started operations in 2001, because between 1999 and 2000 the construction of railways was under work, for which there has been an investment of over US $ 160 million.
We are pleased with the performance of the investment and to date it has exceeded expectations. The passenger service, which in the beginning no one knew for sure if it was going to be offered or not, because
world's railways work with fewer passengers, since this is an operation that typically is given to the State- which subsidizes it- is not an operation that makes money, it´s expensive and requires many people.
Our partners did not want government subsidy and it was not in a position to do so, and knowing that this was a national treasure with a long history, it was decided to offer it as a country's attractiveness.
This has gone very well. I believe the rail is positioned as a tourist attraction in Panama and has been important to show the world the tourist offer of the country.
I do not think it is coincidence that when we began to offer tours to cruises, the tourists who arrived in ports in the province of Colon did not come down from the boats.
The railways offered the passengers a very safe way to get off the cruise ship, board the train and see the city of Colón through the bus that transported them to the train station. From there, they get on the train, travel parallel to the Panama Canal, see the entire waterway, get to know the city of Panama and once those tourists tasted a small part of the country, the growth of tourism in Panama began.
There are other factors that we can not ignore, because once operations started, the railroad brought to the city of Panama each year 50,000 tourists from cruise ships. Along with tour operators, we were doing tours of the city for those tourists who did not know the country. For example, they commented that they didn´t know Panama had buildings.
Are the figures ongoing?
They remain the same; we actually have even won several awards as the best tour in the Caribbean since it is a very valuable product for the cruise. Eighty seven percent of cruise ships do not transit the Panama Canal; they arrive in Colón and turn around. If you have paid a lot of money to come and take a cruise to Panama, the first thing your friends are going to ask is if you get to knew the Panama Canal. And how are you going to say that you did not?
The railroad offered the opportunity to travel through the Canal, but by train, not by boat, and see the city of Panama.
Currently, what is the biggest business of the railway?
Our business is and will remain being the container load. We continue to offer daily service to the executives of the Colon Free Zone (ZLC), back and forth, also tours to cruises and we will continue to provide this service to the country although is not the crux of the business.
What are the future plans of the railway?
In the first two years of operation, the rail was a little slow because it was ready before the completion of the expansion of the ports, specifically the port of Balboa.
Our first client was the Merck ship builder company that was basically the only one in the port of Balboa. You can´t move containers from port to port if other boats can not dock.
As the port of Balboa expanded its capacity and entered APL, Cosco and Mitsui, all customers who have been entering the Panamanian ports have used the railway.
Last year was a record year when 360,000 containers were mobilized. This year there is a global crisis and the growth will not be as big as last year's. This does not indicate that we are not happy, because even the figures that we will obtain this year are figures that were projected for 2016. We are ahead of what we had expected.
We continue to do heavy investment such as expanding capacity. Last year we brought seven more locomotives and invested US $ 5 million in cranes. We have made expansions in the terminals for a larger area of operation. The nice thing about a rail business is that it can expanded.
story by Sherly Diaz / The Panama Post
Thomas Kenna, Marketing Director for Canal Railway Company It´s one of the main attractions of the country
The government of Panama gave Canal Railway Company (PCRC) a grant for the development, construction, management, renovation, reconstruction and direction of the Panama Railroad.
The bulk of the railway business is the transportation of containers. Its record year was 2008, when 360,000 containers were moved.
The railroad offers shippers the opportunity to increase ports' coverage with less ships, in a faster way and with cost savings. It has also become a major national tourist attraction.
Marketing director of the PCRC, Thomas Kenna, is one of the master pieces in the operation of the railroad, since his responsibilities were to design the business plan of the railway, to know who the customers would be, which would be the operation of the railroad and whether it would work with passengers or not.
This executive, who is currently the President of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), earned his bachelor's degree in Science at the Ford State University in the United States. He then returned to Panama and the Kendall Company, affiliated to Colgate Palmolive, made a job offer to him as Production Manager of Curity brand products and he decided to stay to work for a while.
At this company he worked for three years. Later, he had the opportunity to work in the maritime field. He traveled to Hamburg, Germany, to work with the ship builder company Hapag-Lloyd, where he received an intensive preparation in the maritime area.
Kenna has a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Nova Southeastern University, which he obtained while working at the shipping agency.
He returned to Panama to work with Continental Agencies, which was the representative of Hapag-Lloyd in the country. He started in the area of marketing and eventually became General Manager. He worked 15 years for this company. He was also General Manager for Air France airlines.
Kenna shared with The Post Panama more than half an hour of his time to talk about his career, the beginning of the Panama Railroad, its development and future plans.
How did you become involve in the railroad, if you were in the maritime area?
In 1998, the Panamanian government decided to privatize the railway. In 1999, railway owners began to rebuild it and formed their work team.
The owners had great railway knowledge, but within the group there was no one who understood or knew about the maritime world, so they made an offer to me to join the group as marketing director. My responsibility was not only to cooperate in the reconstruction of the railway, but I had to implement marketing programs, visit customers or ship builders and shape the business area. This was in 1999 when the railway was still under construction.
I thought it was an interesting challenge, because the rail is a national treasure and these are opportunities that don´t present anytime and even more interesting, because the ship builders said that the railway would not work because the route was very short.
At that time it was my responsibility to give shape to the commercial area of the company, to who the customers would be, to define how the operation of the railways was going to be, and whether we were going to work with passengers or not.
How has the railway business changed since its inception to date?
We started operations in 2001, because between 1999 and 2000 the construction of railways was under work, for which there has been an investment of over US $ 160 million.
We are pleased with the performance of the investment and to date it has exceeded expectations. The passenger service, which in the beginning no one knew for sure if it was going to be offered or not, because
world's railways work with fewer passengers, since this is an operation that typically is given to the State- which subsidizes it- is not an operation that makes money, it´s expensive and requires many people.
Our partners did not want government subsidy and it was not in a position to do so, and knowing that this was a national treasure with a long history, it was decided to offer it as a country's attractiveness.
This has gone very well. I believe the rail is positioned as a tourist attraction in Panama and has been important to show the world the tourist offer of the country.
I do not think it is coincidence that when we began to offer tours to cruises, the tourists who arrived in ports in the province of Colon did not come down from the boats.
The railways offered the passengers a very safe way to get off the cruise ship, board the train and see the city of Colón through the bus that transported them to the train station. From there, they get on the train, travel parallel to the Panama Canal, see the entire waterway, get to know the city of Panama and once those tourists tasted a small part of the country, the growth of tourism in Panama began.
There are other factors that we can not ignore, because once operations started, the railroad brought to the city of Panama each year 50,000 tourists from cruise ships. Along with tour operators, we were doing tours of the city for those tourists who did not know the country. For example, they commented that they didn´t know Panama had buildings.
Are the figures ongoing?
They remain the same; we actually have even won several awards as the best tour in the Caribbean since it is a very valuable product for the cruise. Eighty seven percent of cruise ships do not transit the Panama Canal; they arrive in Colón and turn around. If you have paid a lot of money to come and take a cruise to Panama, the first thing your friends are going to ask is if you get to knew the Panama Canal. And how are you going to say that you did not?
The railroad offered the opportunity to travel through the Canal, but by train, not by boat, and see the city of Panama.
Currently, what is the biggest business of the railway?
Our business is and will remain being the container load. We continue to offer daily service to the executives of the Colon Free Zone (ZLC), back and forth, also tours to cruises and we will continue to provide this service to the country although is not the crux of the business.
What are the future plans of the railway?
In the first two years of operation, the rail was a little slow because it was ready before the completion of the expansion of the ports, specifically the port of Balboa.
Our first client was the Merck ship builder company that was basically the only one in the port of Balboa. You can´t move containers from port to port if other boats can not dock.
As the port of Balboa expanded its capacity and entered APL, Cosco and Mitsui, all customers who have been entering the Panamanian ports have used the railway.
Last year was a record year when 360,000 containers were mobilized. This year there is a global crisis and the growth will not be as big as last year's. This does not indicate that we are not happy, because even the figures that we will obtain this year are figures that were projected for 2016. We are ahead of what we had expected.
We continue to do heavy investment such as expanding capacity. Last year we brought seven more locomotives and invested US $ 5 million in cranes. We have made expansions in the terminals for a larger area of operation. The nice thing about a rail business is that it can expanded.
Casino Paper Trail leads to Perez Balladares
Casino Paper Trail leads to Pérez Balladares
story by La Prensa English News
Ernesto Pérez Balladares (left) and Roosevelt Thayer, a suspected director of Lucky Games
Files released to this newspaper by means of the Transparency Law continue to yield further evidence that former President Ernesto Pérez Balladares has benefited from granting gaming company Lucky Games a direct concession to operate casinos and slot machine halls, a deal made during his term as president between 1994 and 1999.
In fact, records show that Shelf Holdings, a company linked to Pérez Balladares, received a sum of $282,000 from then president of Lucky Games, Carlos González.
But despite appearing on the books as the sole shareholder of Lucky Games, González is a total unknown in the gaming industry. Three owners of businesses in the industry who spoke on condition of anonymity all indicated that they had never met the elusive González in his decade as supposed CEO of Lucky Games.
Records also indicate that a second newcomer to the industry, Samuel Valdéz, who succeeded González as CEO in 2007, regularly deposited large sums of money in accounts belonging to Shelf Holdings.
Shelf Holding Inc. was registered at the Public Registry on June 26, 2003. The company's board includes one of the partners of the legal firm Infante & Pérez Almillano, Hector Infante, who is also Pérez Balladares' atttorney.
Since its creation, Shelf Holding has moved some $8 million through the banking system in strictly checks and cash, occasionally transferring sums of up to $1.7 million at a time from Ministry of Housing Bank (Banvivienda). On another occasion, Lucky Games deposited funds into Shelf Holding's separate account at the First American Bank (now HSBC).
The paper trail created by the series of transactions within the Pérez Balladares' company indicates that yet another figure played a role in delivering the money to the former head-of-state. Ricardo Alberto Caputo, the Argentinian intimate of Pérez Balladares, in fact, still manages the financial affairs of the erstwhile president and his wife' financial affairs both at home and abroad.
That confidence comes at a price. In the five years that Pérez Balladares held office, Caputo received $210,445 in discretionary funds from the Presidency. In total, according to the Transparency Department of the Ombudsman, he was paid in 75 checks, most of them described in the books as "unforeseen costs of special services of the President" or "unforeseen expenses for the cost of travel on official business."
In addition to those payments, the Argentinian confidant also had access to $55,000 transferred to his account at the National Bank by the Ministry of the Presidency in 1998.
Pérez Balladares also helped Caputo realize his dream of home ownership in Panama. According to the Public Registry, the Regional Interoceanic Authority sold Caputo an 825-square meter lot in Diablo Heights for $43,000. The land included a 159-square meter home.
The sale took place under the Nicolás Ardito Barletta's term as director of the authority just days after Pérez Balladares left office.
Shelf Holding was not the only company linked to the former president that received money from Lucky Games. Bank records reveal that portions of the casino operator's gambling profits wound up in accounts in the name of Pty Adventures Inc., which in turn forwarded that money to Shelf Holding accounts.
Pty Adventures, incorporated on May 20, 2002, also counts among its directors members of Infante & Pérez Almillano, one of whose partners is Humberto Iglesias, son of Pérez Balladares.
story by La Prensa English News
Ernesto Pérez Balladares (left) and Roosevelt Thayer, a suspected director of Lucky Games
Files released to this newspaper by means of the Transparency Law continue to yield further evidence that former President Ernesto Pérez Balladares has benefited from granting gaming company Lucky Games a direct concession to operate casinos and slot machine halls, a deal made during his term as president between 1994 and 1999.
In fact, records show that Shelf Holdings, a company linked to Pérez Balladares, received a sum of $282,000 from then president of Lucky Games, Carlos González.
But despite appearing on the books as the sole shareholder of Lucky Games, González is a total unknown in the gaming industry. Three owners of businesses in the industry who spoke on condition of anonymity all indicated that they had never met the elusive González in his decade as supposed CEO of Lucky Games.
Records also indicate that a second newcomer to the industry, Samuel Valdéz, who succeeded González as CEO in 2007, regularly deposited large sums of money in accounts belonging to Shelf Holdings.
Shelf Holding Inc. was registered at the Public Registry on June 26, 2003. The company's board includes one of the partners of the legal firm Infante & Pérez Almillano, Hector Infante, who is also Pérez Balladares' atttorney.
Since its creation, Shelf Holding has moved some $8 million through the banking system in strictly checks and cash, occasionally transferring sums of up to $1.7 million at a time from Ministry of Housing Bank (Banvivienda). On another occasion, Lucky Games deposited funds into Shelf Holding's separate account at the First American Bank (now HSBC).
The paper trail created by the series of transactions within the Pérez Balladares' company indicates that yet another figure played a role in delivering the money to the former head-of-state. Ricardo Alberto Caputo, the Argentinian intimate of Pérez Balladares, in fact, still manages the financial affairs of the erstwhile president and his wife' financial affairs both at home and abroad.
That confidence comes at a price. In the five years that Pérez Balladares held office, Caputo received $210,445 in discretionary funds from the Presidency. In total, according to the Transparency Department of the Ombudsman, he was paid in 75 checks, most of them described in the books as "unforeseen costs of special services of the President" or "unforeseen expenses for the cost of travel on official business."
In addition to those payments, the Argentinian confidant also had access to $55,000 transferred to his account at the National Bank by the Ministry of the Presidency in 1998.
Pérez Balladares also helped Caputo realize his dream of home ownership in Panama. According to the Public Registry, the Regional Interoceanic Authority sold Caputo an 825-square meter lot in Diablo Heights for $43,000. The land included a 159-square meter home.
The sale took place under the Nicolás Ardito Barletta's term as director of the authority just days after Pérez Balladares left office.
Shelf Holding was not the only company linked to the former president that received money from Lucky Games. Bank records reveal that portions of the casino operator's gambling profits wound up in accounts in the name of Pty Adventures Inc., which in turn forwarded that money to Shelf Holding accounts.
Pty Adventures, incorporated on May 20, 2002, also counts among its directors members of Infante & Pérez Almillano, one of whose partners is Humberto Iglesias, son of Pérez Balladares.
President Martinelli Responds to Casino Scandal
President Martinelli responds to casino scandal
Story by La Prensa News
President Ricardo Martinelli announced yesterday that it he would cancel the concessions for the operation of slot machine halls awarded directly by the state during the Ernesto Pérez Balladares administration.
"We will work with the Cabinet to approve the cancellation of the licenses that were granted off the cuff," said Martinelli.
In 1996, then President Pérez Balladares awarded three such licenses, bypassing the public bidding process dictated by law, and the favored companies were exempted from any fees.
Lucky Games, the operator of nine casinos and game rooms across the country, received one of those improvised concessions, along with Comput-Bingo and Competiciones Deportivas. The trio of companies have ties with the former president.
Comput-Bingo and Competiciones Deportivas, for instance, include among its shareholders Mario Pérez Balladares, the brother of the erstwhile head-of-state. The two companies run Bingo 90 in the capital's Obarrio neighborhood.
Less than kosher ties between Pérez Balladares and Lucky Games were exposed in an investigative report by this newspaper yesterday.
Since then, the Public Ministry has opened an inquiry into the issue, and the secretary of the Gaming Control Board, Giselle Brea, has ordered an audit of the company's shareholdings.
Story by La Prensa News
President Ricardo Martinelli announced yesterday that it he would cancel the concessions for the operation of slot machine halls awarded directly by the state during the Ernesto Pérez Balladares administration.
"We will work with the Cabinet to approve the cancellation of the licenses that were granted off the cuff," said Martinelli.
In 1996, then President Pérez Balladares awarded three such licenses, bypassing the public bidding process dictated by law, and the favored companies were exempted from any fees.
Lucky Games, the operator of nine casinos and game rooms across the country, received one of those improvised concessions, along with Comput-Bingo and Competiciones Deportivas. The trio of companies have ties with the former president.
Comput-Bingo and Competiciones Deportivas, for instance, include among its shareholders Mario Pérez Balladares, the brother of the erstwhile head-of-state. The two companies run Bingo 90 in the capital's Obarrio neighborhood.
Less than kosher ties between Pérez Balladares and Lucky Games were exposed in an investigative report by this newspaper yesterday.
Since then, the Public Ministry has opened an inquiry into the issue, and the secretary of the Gaming Control Board, Giselle Brea, has ordered an audit of the company's shareholdings.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
More than 100 properties with potential to develop agritourism
More than 100 properties with potential to develop agritourism
Sherly Diaz / The Panama Post
Agriculture, livestock, and flower arrangements are some of the activities that the visitor can enjoy Some of them are located in the provinces of Coclé, Los Santos, Veraguas, Chiriquí and Panama
Exhausted by the stress of any cosmopolitan city, many tourists seek a different alternative to rest and in a way "disconnect" from their bustling metropolis. And one of these alternatives is agritourism, an activity that is beginning to emerge in Panama.
Citizens from across the world go to Panama farms which are certified to offer the service of agritourism, where they learn to develop a variety of country activities such as milking a cow, working with livestock, and harvesting fruit, among other activities involving direct contact with the environment.
Through websites that some of the certified farms have, tourists get ready to take a boat or a bus after arriving in Panama to begin their adventure.
The development of agritourism opens the door to other related activities such as ethno-tourism, health, historic, cultural and adventure tourism.
Many farms border communities such as the Middle East in the Chiriquí province, 366 kilometers from the province of Panama, near the Nögbe Bugle.
Additionally, many have at their borders beautiful beaches and unique flora and fauna in the region, allowing the development of various activities. Even some of their lands have been the scenery of historic events such as the war of Coto.
Early activity
Agritourism began to be formalized two years ago with the active participation of the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MIDA) and the former Panamanian Tourism Institute (IPAT), known today as the Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP). Both institutions began to make contact with farm owners. The results of the joint action were the identification of 167 farms which have the potential to develop agritourism. So far, 37 farms have been certified to develop the agritourism activity, said one of the pioneers of this project, José Vence (see box: Some farms).
Each farm must comply with good practices such as waste management of urban activity as agriculture, analyzing the history of each farm animal in order to eliminate suffering from any contagious disease, signs, recycling, and water purification, among others, to achieve certification.
After obtaining certification, a follow up is given to the farm three times a year according to a safety manual. In the future the support of international agencies to improve procedures is sought.
Vence stressed that the highest quality standards are going to be obtained; proof of that is the work being done to achieve international certifications from world-class organizations such as Global Green.
Success Experience
At the provinces of Coclé, Los Santos, Veraguas, Chiriquí and Panama there are farms dedicated to agritourism.
Edna of Landao, co-owner of the property Sitio Barriles in the province of Chiriquí develops with her husband the business of agritourism.
She stressed that the farm is visited by people from the United States, Finland, Europe, and England, among other nationalities.
She highlighted that they have managed to divulge their activities and this allows them to have the support of some tour operators.
Although most visitors are foreigners, they also receive the visit of Panamanian citizens, whether students, retirees or families.
The cost per trip is $ 3.00 for adults and $ 0.50 for children.
While the price for tourists is between $ 6.00 to cover the tour during the day.
Sherly Diaz / The Panama Post
Agriculture, livestock, and flower arrangements are some of the activities that the visitor can enjoy Some of them are located in the provinces of Coclé, Los Santos, Veraguas, Chiriquí and Panama
Exhausted by the stress of any cosmopolitan city, many tourists seek a different alternative to rest and in a way "disconnect" from their bustling metropolis. And one of these alternatives is agritourism, an activity that is beginning to emerge in Panama.
Citizens from across the world go to Panama farms which are certified to offer the service of agritourism, where they learn to develop a variety of country activities such as milking a cow, working with livestock, and harvesting fruit, among other activities involving direct contact with the environment.
Through websites that some of the certified farms have, tourists get ready to take a boat or a bus after arriving in Panama to begin their adventure.
The development of agritourism opens the door to other related activities such as ethno-tourism, health, historic, cultural and adventure tourism.
Many farms border communities such as the Middle East in the Chiriquí province, 366 kilometers from the province of Panama, near the Nögbe Bugle.
Additionally, many have at their borders beautiful beaches and unique flora and fauna in the region, allowing the development of various activities. Even some of their lands have been the scenery of historic events such as the war of Coto.
Early activity
Agritourism began to be formalized two years ago with the active participation of the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MIDA) and the former Panamanian Tourism Institute (IPAT), known today as the Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP). Both institutions began to make contact with farm owners. The results of the joint action were the identification of 167 farms which have the potential to develop agritourism. So far, 37 farms have been certified to develop the agritourism activity, said one of the pioneers of this project, José Vence (see box: Some farms).
Each farm must comply with good practices such as waste management of urban activity as agriculture, analyzing the history of each farm animal in order to eliminate suffering from any contagious disease, signs, recycling, and water purification, among others, to achieve certification.
After obtaining certification, a follow up is given to the farm three times a year according to a safety manual. In the future the support of international agencies to improve procedures is sought.
Vence stressed that the highest quality standards are going to be obtained; proof of that is the work being done to achieve international certifications from world-class organizations such as Global Green.
Success Experience
At the provinces of Coclé, Los Santos, Veraguas, Chiriquí and Panama there are farms dedicated to agritourism.
Edna of Landao, co-owner of the property Sitio Barriles in the province of Chiriquí develops with her husband the business of agritourism.
She stressed that the farm is visited by people from the United States, Finland, Europe, and England, among other nationalities.
She highlighted that they have managed to divulge their activities and this allows them to have the support of some tour operators.
Although most visitors are foreigners, they also receive the visit of Panamanian citizens, whether students, retirees or families.
The cost per trip is $ 3.00 for adults and $ 0.50 for children.
While the price for tourists is between $ 6.00 to cover the tour during the day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)