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The first cinema festival of the Isthmus is just around the corner. From April 11 to the 18, the International Film Festival of Panama will present around 50 productions.
During the last couple of days, the name “Panama” has been making its way through several international media regarding film making.
The Canadian Henk Van der Kolk, architect and one of the founders of the Toronto International Film Festival, is the one to be blamed for making the Isthmus so popular, and all thanks to his new challenge: The International Film Festival Panama.
Now that the TIFF has 36 years in its mother land, Van der Kolk has set himself to organize the IFF in Panama, from the 11th to the 18th of April of 2012.
Thus, the Canadian has taken advantage of the TIFF version currently taking place in Toronto in order to advertise the Panamanian Festival.
With this new son, Van der Kolk plans to present 50 film productions, and eventually the creation of a film school in the country, as informed to thestar.blogs.com site.
“We will be there with 50 productions the first year, jewels all of them”, added to the Screendaily.com publication.
In order to finance this project, Van der Kolk has been in touch with the Government of Panama and counts with the support of the Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP).
Ernesto Orillac, from the ATP, stated in the online publication that “the IFF that will take place in Panama, in 2012, is a unique opportunity to show the world the magnificent matters that are taking place in Panama. Our country has different regions and colors and projects these through films, that when seen throughout the globe, is a great way to advertise Panama’s beauties”.
EXPORTING THE ISTHMUS
The board of directors of the Panamanian festival is constituted by Panamanian filmmakers and local industry representatives of the entertainment industry, like Pituka Ortega Heilbron (who is currently at the Toronto festival), Abner Benaim, Luis Pacheco, as well as the musician and actor Ruben Blades, ex-administrator of the ATP.
To Van der Kolk, this opportunity that Panama has in order to expose its filmmaking talent reminds him of Canada in the year of 1976, when the TIFF started in Canada. “In 1976, our media didn’t have any interest in us, as Canadian filmmakers. Therefore, we made a film festival for the world to recognize us”, was registered by Screendaily.com
Panama has a world of advantages, in my opinion, because with the upcoming festival we expect to attract “the travelers’ culture” with a new offer to the film festival visitors who have the money to travel through the world and enjoy the seventh art.
“Having it in April, the people from the north hemisphere will be coming from winter, reason why many of them will want to be at the beach, and that is something you can do in Panama (…) The Isthmus has ease of access with direct routes to Europe and North America”.
Fuente: La Prensa.com
Autor: Rella Rosenshain
Tourism in June increased 17.3%, becoming the month with the highest growth in 2011, according to figures from the Department of Statistics of the Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP). The numbers reveal that Tocumen International Airport continues to be the main entryway, with 628,594 visitors, an increase of 9.5%.
Most travelers came from the United States, pointed out the ATP, which reports the entry of 143,997 tourists. The second largest group of visitors came from South America, with 272,531 passengers.
Fuente: http://www.panamaamerica.com.pa/
Autor: Dimar Díaz Nieto
In recent days, the ATP (Tourism Authority of Panama) met with Cathay Pacific airline and Hong Kong authorities
The ties between Panama and Asia continue to strengthen, 'we are getting closer to attracting a new route, we have had several meetings with airlines from Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore', said Ernesto Orillac, General Consultant of the Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP).
"What we are trying to accomplish by next year or sooner, is that we can have direct flights from Asia”, said the consultant.
Orillac highlighted that there are several other countries from that continent that have contacted us in order to achieve connectivity with our country, ‘they see Panama as a Hub for the Latin American region’. Some meetings have taken place with Cathay Pacific airline and Hong Kong Investment, among others.
Fuente: http://www.laestrella.com.pa/
Autor: Michelle Domínguez
With plenty of joy was celebrated the 492 years anniversary of Panama La Vieja. Once again is commemorated this important date.
Schools, foundations and independent bands participated in the civic parade that started at Estatua Morelos (Morelos Statue) and ended at Puente del Rey (King’s Bridge).
People of all ages, citizens and foreigners enjoyed the different tunes brought by the musical bands that were present.
A request to the authorities was submitted in favor of keeping this celebration alive.
The city was founded on August 15th of 1519 by Pedro Arias Davila (Pedrarias), this being the first Spanish settlement in the Pacific Ocean coasts.
The foundation of Panama took over the previous cities of Maria la Antigua del Darién and Acla, turning into the capital of Castilla de Oro. On September 15 of 1521, was received by means of the Royal Decree, the title of City and a Coat of Arms granted by Carlos I of Spain.
Subsequently, in 1671, the city was attacked by the English pirate Henry Morgan, with plundering intentions, and for the safety of the population and their possessions, the Captain General of Tierra Firme, Juan Perez de Guzman, orders the evacuation and the blowing of the powder deposits which created a very large fire that destroyed it entirely, with the ruins standing until nowadays, including the cathedral tower.
The whole monumental complex of Panama Viejo is recognized as part of the World Heritage.
The city of Panama was rebuilt in 1673, located at 2 km west-southeast of the original city, at the skirts of Cerro Ancon, known today as the Casco Viejo of the city.
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.
