Panama Investor Blog

Panama Expo-Tourism Fair 2014

The tourism fairs in the world offer an excellent opportunity to present and promote the supply of tourism products in a destination; countries and companies make significant efforts to organize and participate in them, with the assurance of getting back in the short and medium term.

Panama was consolidated in 2014 as the host of one of the most important fairs in the region: Expoturismo 2014, in its fifth version promises a smashing success, surpassing by far the presence of exhibitors and especially buyers and wholesalers International, which this year is expected to be about 200, and who ultimately are the ones that include attractions in Panama with different deals, boosting the image, positioning and hence the arrival of tourists to our country.

Expoturismo Panama is the result of close work and coordination between the Chamber of Tourism of Panama, the Chamber of Commerce and the Tourism Authority of Panama, they have created a working model in proactive and dynamic team.

Importantly holding the fair on the 26th and 27th of September, it occurs in the context of the international tourism month with the participation of over 30 countries, and this year will present innovations in format, as the opportunity audiences will buy packages and deals that will be promoted on September 27th, World Tourism Day. No doubt, buyers will benefit from excellent prices fair and tourism within the country, which is a priority to develop.

We urge all tourism businesses to participate in the country to showcase their products and Panamanians and residents to visit the exhibition and take the opportunity to continue to discover the wonders offered by our beautiful Panama.

 

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A visit to the Authority of Tourism of Panama

In August 7th, we had the opportunity to meet with the new Minister of Tourism of Panama, Jesus Sierra, to talk about the development of Medical Tourism in our country. Amongst many topics, we talked about our wellness program called LaVida Optimal Wellness Destination in which we are receiving retired NFL and NBA players from the United States, to come and visit Panama.  

Medical Tourism in Panama is a product that has the potential to promote the country around the world as the Hub of Wellness. 

 

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Jail for mistreating animals in Panama

As an animal lover I have happy to see some laws to protect them from abuse. I just hope they don't cary it too far. I have not seen many instances of animal abuse in Panama, but I hear it is prevalent. Here is an article from La Prensa about some old and new laws ragrding animal cruelty. Machine translated so excuse errors.

Mónica Palm
[email protected] 

 In November 2009, Edgar Santos machetes killed a dog in Quebrada Onda, in the indigenous region of Duima Nole.

 One of his neighbors complained and is now required by the Municipal Court of Remedios.  It is, officially recognized by the judiciary, the first prosecuted criminally for the crime of animal abuse.

 Santos, 28, was found "guilty rebel" and not go to court.  If one day he is convicted, is liable to a fine of 100 to 200 daily fines or community work.

 A Pascual Rodriguez, meanwhile, the second municipal judge in Columbus, criminal branch, which passed with 20 months and 12 days in jail for committing the crime against the environment and land use (in the form of anti-wildlife).

Was surprised by Colorado mountain rangers in the area of North Hut, when wearing a collared peccary and agouti are both dead, threatened and endangered species, "a 22-caliber rifle and 19 unexploded ordnance.

Against Rodriguez could be sentenced to 32 months in prison, but as we hosted a short trial and admitted the facts, reduced his sentence.

 Defined crime

 It was from May 2008, with the entry into force of new Penal Code, which established penalties for "anyone who commits acts of cruelty, causing death or seriously injures an animal used as a pet."

 Sanctions are 100 to 200 day fines or community work. However, the government deputy Victor Juliao encourages reforms to the Penal Code to punish with imprisonment those who abuse pets.

 Under a draft law presented by Juliao in August 2010, anyone who causes injury to a pet will be punished with imprisonment of one to four months and a fine of $ 100 -1000 dollars. Also, you will forfeit the animal.  If due to injury, the animal dies, the penalty is increased to double.

 "I know people who keep their pets chained long time, in dismal conditions and lack of food and proper treatment. With this legal instrument is to orient and then punish these men and women who have lost this virtue, the nobility of living in harmony with animals, "said Juliao in its preamble.

As "abuse", the draft considered not provide water or food to the animal, keep it dirty or parasites, not to provide medical treatment or hitting, kicking, dragging or overload.

 The proposal also intends to punish with a fine of $ 200 thousand dollars to practice acts of bestiality.

 Also prohibits fighting and dog racing or any other animal species into the country and performance of any show that uses circus animals.  This is punishable by confiscation of the animals, and a fine of one thousand to 45 thousand dollars. Repeat offenders will be temporarily or permanently close the premises.

 The draft, which this week was prohijado Legislative Commission on Population, Environment and Development, also prohibits the sale of animals in public.

Obstacles to experiments

The initiative proposed by the government deputy Victor Juliao also focuses on animal testing, something that until now, not under the Penal Code.

The deputy suggested that the experiments are done when no other alternative procedures to obtain the desired results, and only in cases of control, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases.

No animal may be used more than once in the experiments and these will be taken care of, fed and cured, before and after practice.  For the experiment, the animals have to be sedated, tranquilized or anesthetized.

 Euthanasia when the animal shall only be with mutilation, blindness or severe pain.

Developers Integrate Health Care Into Central American Projects

This story was carried in the New York Times and will probably get a lot of views and inspire other developers to look seriously at a new development model, one that will include a medical component in their project. This article points out several developers who are working on just such a plan, including ourselves.

We are mentioned in this article as we are in the process of creating a treatment center within our resort that will deal with regenerative medicine and degenerative disease. I will share more about this project at a later date, but as the cat is out of the bag, I will re-post the article here.

By KEVIN BRASS

Forget golf courses and fancy spas. The hot amenity for second-home resorts in Central America these days is a medical facility.

“People are asking for it,” said Kevin Fleming, who has included a 40-bed clinic in plans for Seaside Mariana, a 923-acre, or 374-hectare, project he is building on the coast of Nicaragua. “We’ve seen a real shift in consumer response.”

With second-home sales sluggish, an array of developers in the region are planning health care tie-ins, from Botox clinics to assisted living centers for retirees.

“In every development we have a say in, we’re promoting the idea of including a medical facility,” said Bill Clover, president of Panorama International, a consultancy with headquarters in San Antonio, Texas.

One of those projects is Playa Secreta, a resort with a marina, cruise ship dock, golf courses and more than 2,000 residential units now under development in El Salvador. Plans call for a clinic or small hospital on the grounds. “Developers are looking for an edge to attract people,” Mr. Clover said. “They are also aware of the aging buyer in the residential market.”

This is new territory for developers of Central American properties. While many hotels in the region promote packages tied to health treatments and weight loss programs, only a handful include a medical facility on site.

That is a contrast to countries like Thailand and India, which have well-established medical tourism industries, primarily catering to Europeans. But the United States — the key driver in the Central American market for second homes — is only now embracing the concept.

With health care costs rising, 1.6 million Americans are expected to leave the United States for some form of medical treatment by 2012, up from 750,000 in 2007, according to Deloitte, which tracks the industry.

The cost of care in Central America and Mexico is at least 25 percent to 40 percent less than in the United States, says Paul H. Keckley, executive director of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions.

But the trend could slow if more insurance companies decide not to cover procedures performed overseas, Mr. Keckley said. And there is little solid evidence that medical services can sell vacation villas.

“We haven’t been able to translate demand for health and wellness into second home demand,” said Chad Martin, global research analyst with E360, a North Carolina company that regularly surveys buyers of second homes.

Still, developers in Central America are embracing the concept, eager for any way to jump-start sales. Last year a discussion about how to integrate medical tourism into developments was one of the best attended sessions of the annual Central America Tourism and Hotel Investment Exchange, said James E. Burba, president of Burba Hotel Network, the California company that produced the event for developers and investors.

In the past, medical tourism did not surface as an opportunity for developers “because regular real estate was so strong,” Mr. Burba said.

In many ways, medical facilities are a natural fit for tropical resorts. Patients can convalesce in style; retirees can live inexpensively in an exotic location, without worrying about the availability of medical care.

From a business standpoint, a health care facility attached to a second-home project can attract local citizens and expatriate residents, serving as a hedge against the ebbs and flows of the tourism market. A health care component can also make a project more appealing to lenders, some of whom are wary of financing vacation-home developments.

Larry Foster, a consultant based in Mazatlán, Mexico, is helping developers convert projects once planned as second homes into assisted living centers. “There are a ton of condominium projects in Mexico that are half-finished that would lend themselves to retrofitting,” Mr. Foster said.

Developers are also trying to innovate, targeting different niches in the medical treatment market.

Read the rest of the story here....