The digital media have become allies for promoting touristic destinations to the world, each time is more frequent to have access to information found in the internet, with this having a ample amount of daily visits (hits), quite often very similar to the print runs of the main printed media.

 

Cyber-technology (the internet) is currently a fundamental resource to obtaining updated information and its importance has been considered as a promotion tool by the Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP), to pop open the digital window in order to present our country to the world.

 

It’s been 11 months since the ATP implemented an ambitious communication program through the web, which has allowed our country to place itself advantageously in the mind of all travelers. The visits to our websites and profiles reflect a high demand; visitpanama.com has been visited from 186 different countries and has an average of 73,430 monthly visits, with an outstanding increase of 194%.

 

 One of the options with the highest rankings in this market are the social networks, with the most popular being: Facebook and Twitter, where we have our profile and pages available for the internet user: “Enjoy Panama” in English, “Disfruta Panama” in Spanish and “Curta Panama” in Portuguese (which was launched two weeks ago), with this being the gathering place for internet users from around the world, who show a profound interest in Panama.

 

By the end of July of 2011, our Facebook page reflected 55,582 “friends”, while in Twitter, the count was at 2,027 followers with a very active participation in both forums; which demonstrates a lot of interest on what is displayed in them and therefore in our country. Through these digital forums, the ATP has the capability to offer promotions, interact with those that have visited our country, promote and capture the attention of future visitors and also, collect the comments regarding their experiences while visiting.

 

These strategies allow us to understand the needs, improve and expand the promotion of Panama and by this, keep the growth within the thriving tourism industry that currently shows a meaningful contribution to the economy in our country.