As Panama gears up towards its Mes de Patria, Tocumen Airport expects an increase in travelers during the holiday period.
November is a busy month in Panama. It’s the country’s Mes de Patria, a celebration month of all things Panamanian.
Independence Day and Flag Day fall on November 3 and 4, followed by the Call for Independence Day on November 10. Then, on November 28, it’s another Independence Day celebration.
In short, November is celebration month in Panama, and this year, Panama needs to celebrate something. A socially-distanced celebration, for sure, but some kind of relief nonetheless. People need something to look forward to.
And it looks like they are looking forward to something, despite the pandemic and economic hardships. It seems like Panamanians are ready to travel again during the upcoming festivities.
That’s according to authorities at Panama City’s Tocumen International Airport, anyway.
Aeropuerto Internacional de Tocumen prevé incremento del 41% durante fiestas patrias????#TocumenTeCuida❤ pic.twitter.com/pVuyY9ElcZ
— Aeropuerto Tocumen (@tocumenaero) October 28, 2020
In a press release yesterday, the airport said almost 31,000 people will travel between October 30 and November 9.
This marks a 41% increase over the amount of people traveling when the airport reopened on October 12.
According to the airport, 15,784 people will leave Tocumen between October 30 and November 2, while 14,907 will return between November 7-10. These rather exact numbers come from airline booking figures.
The most popular countries Panamanians will visit are the United States, Colombia, Mexico, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic.
Panama is the hardest-hit country in Central America for COVID-19. It still has the highest number of cases, although Guatemala has more deaths. Both daily new cases and deaths have been slowly drifting downward since the peak of Panama’s pandemic in July.
Panama reopened for international tourism on October 12. Between October 12 and October 20, 10,691 people entered the country through Tocumen, while 7,675 passengers flew outbound from the airport (including domestic flights).
Airlines using Tocumen include Copa, Air France, Wingo, Iberia, United, KLM, American, Spirit, and Avianca. Turkish Airlines is set to resume on November and Air Europa in December.
Pre-lockdown, Tocumen linked 94 cities in 39 countries. Next month it hopes to reach 60 cities in 39 countries.
As Tocumen Airport reopens, Panama becomes Central America’s final country to welcome tourism back.https://t.co/C3h1396thB
— CentralAmericaLiving (@VidaAmerica) October 12, 2020
James Dyde is the editor of www.centralamerica.com. He lives in Escazu, Costa Rica.
