More and more passengers passing through Tocumen International Airport have decided to stay in Panama and to take advantage of one of the sections of their itinerary to get to know the country, thanks to the Panama Stopover program that allows to extend up to 15 days their stay at an additional cost at the Copa Airlines passage.
In the first half of the year this program attracted more than 132 thousand international visitors, who entered the country using the benefits of the scale at an additional cost.
That number represented an increase of 38% from last year’s same period.
“Panama has the advantage of offering the best air connectivity in the region, bringing the country closer to tens of international markets. The value of Panama Stopover is to use that connectivity so that more passengers will stay in the country as part of his journey and not just as a transit point,” emphasized Pedro Heilbron, executive president of the airline.
The best users of the program are from Argentina, the United States and Ecuador, markets that continue to show an interest in including Panama on their itineraries.
In addition to visiting the town, Panama Canal, shopping and exploring beach and nature destinations with which the country counts.
“Each visitor who decides to stay in the country drives hotels, restaurants, tour operators, businesses and entrepreneurs. That 38% growth in the first semester confirms that Panama is no longer just a point of connection and that more and more travellers choose to discover,” she said.
While at Tocumen the growth in passenger traffic continues at an accelerating rate with more than 9.5 million passengers between January and May, at one of the intersections between Terminal 1 and 2, the SalA Panama exhibit has been given 80,000 visitors that can interplay with the tourist offer offered by the country and explore options for its next journey.
Stopover’s goal is to attract more than 250 million passengers to Panama this year.
