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Building “The Way”: Creating a Successful Tourism Brand for Panama and Its Consequences

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Tourism in Latin America

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Abstract

Panama’s new country brand (The Way) is tightly connected to its long history as a passageway. It also demonstrates the interest of Panama’s government in moving away from the suggestion that Panama’s economy, history, and cultures are exclusively connected to the Panama Canal. Given the historic, economic, cultural and political relevance of the Canal for Panama, how is it possible to explain these concerted efforts to move resources and attention away from it? This chapter attempts to answer this question. I discuss the success of the concerted efforts among the Panamanian government and tourism mediators to transform Panama from a perceived dangerous and somewhat obscure tourism location to a welcoming and attractive temporary and permanent multicultural destination. Conversely, I address the minimal success and improvement that these efforts have represented in the lives of ethnic populations engaged in the tourism industry, paying special attention to Afro-Antillean populations.

‘The Way’ is Panama’s brand; it has a

great number of interpretations, such as

the way to success, the way to adventure,

the way to vacationing in an

unforgettable destination. Many ways,

only one destiny … Panama The Way

(Official Website of the Republic of

Panama)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware (DE), USA

    Carla Guerrón Montero

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  1. Carla Guerrón Montero
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Correspondence to Carla Guerrón Montero .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Arts, Science and Humanities, University of Sao Paulo - USP, Sao Paulo, Brazil

    Alexandre Panosso Netto

  2. School of Arts, Science and Humanities, University of Sao Paulo - USP, Sao Paulo, Brazil

    Luiz Gonzaga Godoi Trigo

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Guerrón Montero, C. (2015). Building “The Way”: Creating a Successful Tourism Brand for Panama and Its Consequences. In: Panosso Netto, A., Trigo, L. (eds) Tourism in Latin America. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05735-4_11

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