(SunSentinel) Panama is emerging as a top travel destination, thanks in part to the ongoing $5 billion expansion of its famous Canal.
Here are five developments in the Central American nation:
Holiday Inn Express hotel planned: InterContinental Hotels Group signed a franchise agreement for a new-build Holiday Inn Express hotel in Panama City, the country’s capital. It will have 198 rooms on 12 floors and is set to open in summer 2012.
The new hotel will be owned and managed by a unit of El Salvador’s business group Agrisal, which has seven InterContinental properties open or under development in the Central American region.
It will be located in Panama City’s business and financial district known as ‘Calle 50.’ The area is home to international banks and multinational companies, some with Latin American headquarters there.
For more on Holiday Inn Express hotels, call 1-800-HOLIDAY or visit www.hiexpress.com/.
Country’s first Westin beach resort to open: Westin resorts will open their first resort in Panama in October: The Westin Playa Bonita Panamá, a $100 million beach hotel that touts the largest meeting and banquet space in the country.
The 611-room resort features seven restaurants, four bars and 65,000 square feet of meeting space. Rooms offer such amenities as LCD TV, high-speed Internet access and an ergonomic workspace. The hotel also offers an open-air lounge on the 19th floor, a gym, three freshwater infinity-edge pools, children’s pool and children’s club.
For more information on the hotel, click here or call 1-877-800-1690.
Free stopovers on Copa Airlines: Panama’s Copa Airlines now offers tourists “stop-over” incentives. Copa passengers en route elsewhere pay no extra charge on their airline ticket if they stop over in Panama, and they also are eligible for discounts on hotels and activities.
New international flights: Airlines serving Panama are adding service to Toronto, Canada; Porto Alegre, Brazil; and Nassau, Bahamas.
Free health insurance for tourists: Since January, Panama offers free health insurance for tourists, in case of emergency. The policy is offered for tourists entering through Tocumen International Airport and covers the first 30 days of stay. It cover such incidents as theft of documents, accidental injury or accidental death. It does does not cover incidents caused by negligence, such as those related to alcohol or drugs, or those caused by extreme sports.