{"id":240869,"date":"2026-02-03T01:18:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T23:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/?p=240869"},"modified":"2026-02-03T17:12:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T15:12:33","slug":"mice-at-the-heart-of-panamas-tourism-strategy-for-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/en\/mice-at-the-heart-of-panamas-tourism-strategy-for-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"MICE at the heart of Panama\u2019s tourism strategy for 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Panama<\/mark> <\/a><\/strong>has made a clear choice for the years ahead: placing the MICE segment<\/strong> at the core of its tourism strategy. For 2026, the country aims to strengthen its appeal to organizers of congresses, trade fairs and corporate events, relying on a well-established combination of international connectivity, modern infrastructure and operational expertise. Led by the Panama Tourism Authority<\/strong> (ATP) and PROMTUR Panama<\/a><\/strong>, this approach is based on close cooperation with the private sector. The objective is twofold: to attract events of international scale and to maximize their economic impact, well beyond the conference venues themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Connectivity and strategic alliances as growth drivers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

ATP\u2019s Director General<\/strong>, Gloria De Le\u00f3n<\/strong>, highlights that the country\u2019s positioning as a regional hub for the MICE segment is supported by tangible results. Between January and October 2025, Panama welcomed 2.4 million visitors, generating nearly USD 5.2 billion in economic impact. These figures reinforce the strategy already underway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Efforts are particularly focused on priority markets such as the United States<\/strong>, Canada<\/strong>, Germany<\/strong>, Spain<\/strong> and France<\/strong>, through targeted campaigns and strengthened partnerships with airlines and tour operators. Specific initiatives, such as the \u201cfree convention center<\/a>\u201d campaign, have also helped convince international organizers, directly boosting hotel stays and related service activities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Infrastructure designed for international events<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Panama relies on a network of infrastructure capable of hosting large-scale events. The Panama Convention Center<\/a> and the ATLAPA Convention Center<\/a> are among the key pillars of this offering. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These venues have been designed to function as true event ecosystems, integrating conference rooms, exhibition spaces, audiovisual technologies, catering and logistics. Their location close to hotels and transport links facilitates organization and enhances the experience for both participants and organizers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Una publicaci\u00f3n compartida por Panama Convention Center (@panamaconventioncenter)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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International recognition confirming the positioning<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Panama\u2019s growing strength in the MICE segment has also been reflected in international recognition. In 2025, the country was nominated in three categories at the World MICE Awards Latin America<\/strong>: Best MICE Destination<\/em>, Best Incentive Destination<\/em> and Best Destination for Corporate Seminars<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These nominations highlight the country\u2019s structural strengths: strong air connectivity, hotel infrastructure suited to major events, and the ability to enrich professional programs with cultural or natural experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By placing the MICE segment at the heart of its strategy, Panama is consolidating its role as a regional platform for international congresses and trade fairs. However, the challenge in the coming years will also be to extend this momentum to other parts of the country that are less exposed but have strong potential. Combining professional events with natural settings and local heritage could pave the way for new formats, complementary to the urban offer, and firmly establish MICE as a key driver of Panama\u2019s tourism development. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo : ATP<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Panama is making the MICE segment a cornerstone of its 2026 tourism strategy, focusing on connectivity, infrastructure and event appeal\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":240867,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16783,16783],"tags":[32861,32841,32858,26641,27784,32856,32860,32853,32862,32849,32850,32854,8101,32855,32851,32857,32852,32863,32859,32838],"class_list":{"0":"post-240869","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-news","9":"tag-air-connectivity-panama","10":"tag-atlapa-convention-center","11":"tag-b2b-tourism-latin-america","12":"tag-business-tourism-panama","13":"tag-event-tourism","14":"tag-incentive-travel-panama","15":"tag-international-conferences-panama","16":"tag-international-congresses-panama","17":"tag-mice-destination-latin-america","18":"tag-mice-segment-latin-america","19":"tag-panama-convention-center-2","20":"tag-panama-mice-2","21":"tag-panama-tourism-authority","22":"tag-panama-tourism-strategy-2026","23":"tag-professional-events-panama","24":"tag-promtur-panama-2","25":"tag-regional-mice-hubs","26":"tag-tourism-development-panama","27":"tag-trade-fairs-panama","28":"tag-world-mice-awards-panama"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240869"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240869\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":241136,"href":"https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240869\/revisions\/241136"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/240867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}