Panama has seem double-digit growth in its meetings and conventions business in recent years, and is looking to become one of the leading business hubs in Latin America with the opening of the Amador Convention Center, the largest facility of its kind in the country. The venue is slated to open next year.
Across 570,505 square feet of meeting space and facilities, the $193 million complex has a banquet hall, exhibition hall, and conference facilities, as well as a grand plaza, outdoor amphitheater, and 1,500-seat performing arts theater with balcony and box seating. Located on the banks of the Panama Canal near the recently opened Biodiversity Museum (architect Frank Gehry‘s only building in Latin America), the convention center will be directly accessible from Tocumen International Airport with more than 80 direct flights to the Caribbean, Central and South America and 17 to North America.
In the lead-up to the opening of Amador Convention Center, the ATP (Autoridad de Turismo de Panamá) is currently offering incentives to companies and organizations to host their meetings in Panama, including a welcome cocktail event and folklore show offering the best of Panamanian culture. Until the new convention center opens, Panama’s current site for major events, the ATLAPA Convention Center, is free to organizers of events who meet a minimum quota of participants.
Other advantages to meeting planners include Panama’s affordability and friendly economic policies, including the use of the U.S. dollar as an official currency, as well as an IRS tax exemption that allows U.S. companies to claim expenses from holding an international meeting in the country. Bonus: Panama also offers visitors free medical emergency insurance for 30 days upon entry.
Panama currently has 550,000 square feet of meeting space and more than 24,000 hotel rooms from international brands. According to the Panama Tourism Authority (ATP), the country hosted 126 conferences and conventions in 2012, a significant increase from the 66 held in 2011.
With the opening of Amador Convention Center, along with a new partnership with Marketing Challenges International (MCIntl), the country’s official North American marketing and sales office, Panama is aiming to become one of the leading meetings and conventions destinations in the Americas.
Here is a cool video showing the construction and systems visualization.
When I as looking up the recent plans for Amador, I stumbled upon these visualizations as well. Panama is going to be another Dubai they way things are going.
