Qingdao Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit 2018 Exclusive Interview: Charm Beyond the Panama Canal

We have (cities) gradually understood that we have to evolve from the old concepts of mass tourism, to a sustainable and much more personalized tourism, giving the visitor the opportunity to integrate and get involved in the daily activities that take place in our cities.

We have (cities) gradually understood that we have to evolve from the old concepts of mass tourism, to a sustainable and much more personalized tourism, giving the visitor the opportunity to integrate and get involved in the daily activities that take place in our cities. This, in turn, allows the economic spillover experienced by destinations to be optimized, since residents have the opportunity to be more than just spectators, and to become protagonists of the stories that their city has to tell.

Cities must be able to identify what we are really good at, what really differentiates us and really speaks about our cultural identity, so that around it we can develop better stories that allow visitors to get to know us, to live true experiences in our cities.

Strengthen Urban Restoration and Citizen’s Soft Skills

During the last four years, the current municipal administration has developed an ambitious urban restoration and revitalization plan, creating or optimizing the infrastructure, universal accessibility, mobility for the pedestrian, signage, safety and standardization in terms of urban planning, with the purpose of improve the experience of both residents and visitors in our city. These projects have gone hand in hand with the recovery of public markets, the rescue of heritage buildings and the commercial reactivation of areas that a few years ago had lost attractiveness for investment. All this intervention has allowed us to expand the traditional concept of our Historic District (Old Town or “Casco Antiguo”, that is UNESCO World Heritage Site), allowing us to develop more solid tourist products, with more content for our visitors.

At the same time, the Mayor's Office has been working on longer-term processes that involve people, the citizen, to strengthen their soft skills, through interventions that involve greater access to cultural activities, training, and greater access to information on relevant events of our history, workshops for citizen participation, and events that help foster a sense of belonging and local identity, all with the aim that together we can be better citizens, and therefore, better hosts for our visitors.

Improving Infrastructure & incorporating Technology and innovation

First of all, the future development and planning of our urban tourism must always be framed within the SDGs(Sustainable Development Goals), with emphasis on objectives 8, 12 and 14, which include specific actions to be developed by our sector. The city destinations must prioritize the improvement of the infrastructure, to create appropriate and comfortable conditions for the development of tourist activities, facilitating the mobility of people so that they can better integrate with the destination and with their socio-cultural and economic activities.

Likewise, we must prioritize the incorporation of technology and innovation, which facilitate the delivery of services to our visitors, improving the experience and access to relevant information on the tourism products and services offered by our destination, in real time and in continuously, we must make our destinations, intelligent tourist destinations. No less important, we must strive to facilitate the capacity building, both for formal providers of tourism services, and for the local population in general, through training, in order to give continuity and sustainability to our efforts.

International collaboration between cities has a fundamental role in local tourism development, as it allows us to share the best practices implemented by cities with characteristics similar to ours, opening the door for the exchange of technical cooperation, financing and investment opportunities, promotion crossed between our destinations, among others. Panama City, for example, has made visits of expert exchanges with other cities; technical workshops with professionals and industry associations, to share experiences; exchanges of field visits between cities, including Fam and Press Trips; exchange of advertising promotion between cities; as well as key contacts of the local private sectors and tourist destination management agencies, among others.