Tourism in Panama

After the toppling of General Noriega’s military regime in 1989, Panama returned to democracy.  Under president Guillermo Endara Galimany, all democratic institutions were restored.  He’s considered “the president of democracy” in this country.  That was his most outstanding legacy.

One of President’s Endara’s numerous contributions, was organizing the groundwork for tourism in Panama.  He was convinced that this industry without smoke could rake in more greenbacks than the exportation of bananas or services of the Panama Canal.  He was right on both assumptions.

When I was working for the Panama Bureau of Tourism—1983-1985—(Instituto Panameño de Turismo), we worked really hard to come up with a ten-year tourist plan.  It was called Plan Maestro de Turismo (Tourism Master Plan).  We were assisted by tourist experts from the Organization of American States, OEA, (Organización de Estados Americanos).  It was a wonderful plan which created the foundation of today’s prospering tourist industry in this country known as Panamá, Puente del Mundo, Corazón del Universo, Espejo de las Américas (Panama, Bridge of the World, Heart of the Universe, Mirror of the Americas).

Today, Panama is the leading tourist destination spot for Central and South American visitors.  Due to its airline’s commercial hub, thousands of visitors travel from all over Central and South America to buy in Panama.  Our Free Zone and lush stores are the best in the region, rivaling those in the United States and Europe both in quality and price.

David, Boquete, Isla Colón and Pedasí are the sweet spots for international tourism.  Panama has broken the landmark of one million visitors a year and has surpassed Costa Rica in ecotourism.  Colon is the home port for Carnival Cruises which organizes ocean cruises to Cartagena, Aruba, and Bermuda at competitive prices.  This is bringing in more tourists to start their Caribbean cruises from Panama.

The Panama Canal, the ruins of Panama Viejo, Portobelo, and the Casco Viejo are flooded by tourists with their P&S camera’s in hand taking pictures to their heart’s content.  Wave surfing at Playa Venado is becoming an international sporting event.  We are in the middle of a tourism boom, and the Panamanian people are smiling all the way to the bank.

If you feel that hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, blizzards, torrid heat and other weather hazards are making your life miserable, hop into a plane and head South to Panama.  It will be a decision you will never forget.  Come on down, come to Panama.  Good Day.

Snapshot of a couple of tourists from Colombia who were visiting Panama during their honeymoon. They were elated to be in Panama. I met them at an airshow in the former Howard Air Force Base in Panama City, Panama. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

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If You Don’t Plan Ahead Now, You’ll Hate Yourself Later

 Everything indicates we’re moving into uncertain territory as the clock tics on.  After the Wall Street meltdown, its repercussions are affecting most of our daily activities.  Many companies are feeling the squeeze and are closing doors or asking for debt protection.  The last company that asked for Chater 11 bankrupcy protection was Circuit City.   General Motors, Ford Motor Company and Chrysler are currently trying to makes ends meet.  They are willing to go all the way to the White House with their hats extended.

During these difficult times it makes a lot of sense to plan ahead to avoid unpleasant surprises.  One of the best planning tools is a budget or a spending plan whichever sounds better.  In this case, semantics doesn’t make a difference.

I know that the word budget is a bad word in the English language, because it restrains your actions.  It limits your spending freedom.  People hate budgets because budgets seem confining.   Like diets, budgets are forever begun with grand intentions, only to be quickly ditched when spending restraints seem too much like a yoke preventing you from disbursing your money as you like.

But in today’s environment, where unemployment is on the rise and where consumers are hung over after a multi-year credit binge, a budget is the very tonic many households need. It doesn’t have to be painful if you understand one salient fact: You control your budget; it doesn’t control you.

If you want to play it safe and guarantee that there will food on the table when your family is hungry, I strongly recommend you start reading on how to prepare a budget or a spending plan.  You’ll love youself later on when the tough gets going.

I’ve selected a well-written article by Jeff D. Opdyke dubbed, “How to Make a Spending Plan” that will help you get started.  It provides you with the general guidelines in the preparation of a spending plan.  Please read it, and if it sound logical, go ahead and plunge into the safety net.  Your family will love you for it. Good day.

Source:  How to Make a Spending Plan – Wall Street Journal

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Office Meetings Could Drain Valuable Company Resources

If office meetings don't have a definite purpose, they should be avoided as much as possible.

When I worked for Texaco in Panama, I was overwhelmed by the number of company meeting we had every week.  Often when a meeting was over, I asked myself what what the purpose of the meeting and I couldn’t answer the question.  The same thing happened to other attendees of the meetings.

During the meetings we frequently came up with good ideas that ended up as good ideas.  I mean that after the meeting was adjourned, nobody made a follow up or a follow through.  The good ideas eventually evaporated.  Thousands of dollars of valuable company’s resources were wasted.  It was money down the drain.

What is a meeting?  Wikepedia Encylopedia defines a meeting, when  two or more people come together for the purpose of discussing a (usually) predetermined topic such as business or community event planning, often in a formal setting.  The key words here are “purpose of discussing a predeterminded purpose”.  If a meeting doesn’t have this essential element, then it should be cancelled until a purpose is defined prior to the meeting.

“In organizations, meetings are an important vehicle for personal contact. They are so common and pervasive in organizations, however, that many take them for granted and forget that, unless properly planned and executed, meetings can be a waste of time and resources.”

If you are a decision maker and plan to hold several meetings of your deparment during the month, please evaluate if these meetings are really necessary.  If not, just invite a couple of your employees to an amicable chat at the company’s cafeteria.  You could be saving your company thousands of dollars a year and decreasing the possibilities of getting a raise.  Good Day!

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Big Oil is Investing in Solar Power

I always knew that developed countries and large corporations had long-term planning strategies. In Business Administration they call it “Proactive Administration”. Instead of reacting to short term problems, they plan ahead trying to foresee upcoming threats.

At least one huge oil company is planning ahead for a period in time when oil will no longer be a necessary energy resource. Such is the case of Shell Corporation. Showa Shell Sekiyu, an affiliate of Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell.   They plan to build one of the world’s largest solar panel plants with an investment of at least 100 billion yens (948 million dollars), a spokesman said last week.

The new plant would have a cumulative annual capacity to produce one gigawatt of power, equivalent to that of a regular-sized nuclear power reactor. “We hope that the solar panel businesses will be the second pillar of our earnings,” as soaring oil prices encourage energy saving, the Shell spokeman’s said.

Construction will begin in 2011, according to the company spokesman, who declined to be named. The location has not yet been decided. Possible locations for the new plant include Europe and the Middle East. The company will choose the location based on factors such as local labour, procurement and demand conditions, the spokesman said.

“In terms of demand for panels, Japan can be a strong candidate as the government is now pushing the solar cells business,” he added.

Showa came into the solar-power business last year, with its first 20-megawatt-capacity photovoltaic plant in the southern city of Miyazaki. In August, it announced plans to build a second factory, with a capacity to produce 60 megawatts.

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has set a target to raise the use of solar cells 10-fold from present levels by 2020, with the government considering subsidies and tax breaks for households turning to solar power. Japan, which has virtually no natural energy resources of its own, aims to take the lead in environmentally friendly energy.

Japanese electronics giant Sharp Corporation said last month that it was teaming up with regional utility Kansai Electric Power Co. to build one of the biggest solar power facilities in the world in western Japan.

Solar radiation along with secondary solar resources such as wind, wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass account for over 99.9 percent of the available flow of renewable energy on Earth. The flows and stores of solar energy in the environment are vast in comparison to current human energy needs.

Panama is already taking advantage of its rich water resources with several hydroelectric power plants. Now it’s time to start investing in wind, solar and wave energy. We have plenty of those renewable resources in this part of the world. The sooner we start working on these mega projects, the sooner we’ll relieve ourselves from overpriced foreign oil dependency.

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