Agritourism: Panama's new tourism venue
By Juan Carlos Martinez
Panama has long been known for shopping tourism. Since the 1980's Costa Ricans and Central Americans have been coming down to Panama for shopping not only at the Colon Free Zone but also at Panama's diverse shopping areas. The most affluent shopping tourists fly in and visit the malls in Panama City however the shoppers on a tighter budget grab the bus, maybe from Nicaragua and Costa Rica and buy in David and Panama's other border towns, such as Guabito in Bocas del Toro, Paso Canoas and Rio Sereno in Chiriqui. Currently one of the most popular spots for this type of shopping is David, Chiriqui which has a lot of the same stores as Panama City does as well as a couple of strip malls and large supermarkets.
Another type of tourism for which Panama is known for is business tourism. This type of tourism has been a mainstay of Panama's economy for a long time. Today Panama is increasingly offering these same tourists a brief break from hectic shopping or business in some of its agritourism venues. As defined by Wikipedia agritourism is an agriculturally based operation or activity that brings visitors to a farm or ranch. Panama has never been very strong in the agriculture sector however the World Tourism Organization indicates that agricultural concerns (business) that engage in agritourism increase their income by 30%.
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Agritourism provides the visitor with a break from hectic lifestyles and brings the visitor to a more simple time. These lodgings are working farms or cattle ranches and the visitor can participate or just observe these activities. These farms are generally located in areas that one can easily reach by car. Once one is there, there is not much traffic, no city noises, no honking, and absence of smog. In many of these sites the visitors may also go hiking, horseback riding, swim or fish in rivers and lakes among many other activities. Other activities that may be interesting to a visitor are the cheese making process, molasses making and one can even make bread in kilns. These visits are also wonderful for kids as they provide a learning experience. With today's processed foods some kids may actually not know how and where food is produced and this type of visit provides a fun way to learn. The food you eat is also great as it is simple fare just off the farm. As for fruit, which in many cases one can just grab off the tree, wash and eat.
Agritourism is one of the names for this activity but it can also be called rural tourism. In Panama this activity is just starting and there are no official numbers as to the income generated by this activity. Most of the agritourism sites are in Chiriqui, Cocle, Capira and La Chorrera. To engage in agritourism a farm must be certified by the Ministry of Agriculture indicating that it follows sound agricultural practices and also by the Panama Tourism Authority indicating that it has the facilities to receive tourists. Currently Panama has 85 farms certified by the Ministry of Agriculture however of these only 25 are certified by the Panama Tourism Authority. The other 60 farm owners are currently receiving training by the Panama Tourism Authority in order to get their certification.
For visitors interested in trying this out some of the newest agritourism farms are in Capira, which is about 45 minutes from Panama City over the bridge of the Americas. There is La Granja in Colon, some coffee farms in Boquete also have day tours through coffee plantations and show you how coffee is grown and harvested such as Finca Lerida. If you want a bit of a break this would be a wonderful way to get it by doing something off the beaten track.
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