Increases presence of European tourists in Panama

Some 50,000 European tourists, between English and Germans, arrived at the Panamanian port of Colón so far this cruise season, which runs until April, transpired on Saturday.

According to the Tourism Authority of Panama, this figure represents 15 percent of the annual average of passengers arriving in the country through this route in the Aida Mar cruises, with eight crossings from December to March; Marella Discovery, which ships German tourists to Jamaica and the Dominican Republic; and the Mein Schiff 6.

In the opinion of Augusto Terracina, spokesman of the cruise port Colón 2000, to date they have received about 100 cruises, since the beginning of the season last October, whose travelers on board arrive to the country 'attracted by the Panama Canal, the tours in railways, shopping and the passage through the locks'.

Statistics from the Florida and Caribbean Cruise Association revealed that there are currently seven large groups belonging to 22 shipping companies, in an industry that grows annually to eight percent and moves 23 million passengers.