Can you imagine traveling to a shopping paradise, where you’ll find items on sale up to 70 percent off the retail price? This is the shopping tourism premise with which the city of Panama invites thousands of tourists to take advantage of the sales during its Panama Black Weekend (PBW).
Between September 13-15, more than three thousand stores in 11 shopping centers will offer offers of recognized brands and discounts of up to 70 percent throughout the Panamanian territory.
Shopping malls participating in this grand initiative of offers and discounts include: Albrook Mall, Town Center, Soho Mall, Westland Mall, Los Andes Mall, Alta Plaza Mall, Balboa Boutique, Los Pueblos Mall, Atrio Mall, Paseo Central (Chitré) and Santiago Mall.
Airline and Lodging Options
You may be wondering: How do I get there? As part of this event, Copa Airlines launched a promotional discount, valid between August 15-22, so shoppers from Bogotá, Colombia; Santiago, Dominican Republic; San José, Costa Rica; and other Latin American cities can fly in for the sales.
PBW organizers teamed up with airlines, hotels, tour operators, carriers and travel agencies for the event. As a result, wholesalers can sell all-inclusive travel combos and even package them with other tourism options within the country.
Panama Black Weekend and Shopping Tourism
This type of initiative aims to mobilize around 25 thousand tourist-shoppers, an important number for the Panama economy. The event stems from alliances between the Panamanian Association of Shopping Centers (APACECOM), the Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP), the National Chamber of Tourism (CAMTUR) and the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama (CCIAP). All of these entities seek to position Panama as the best shopping destination in Latin America.
Iván Eskildsen, ATP General Manager, said that Panama Black Weekend directly impacts the economy and attracts tourists. “It is an opportunity to promote domestic tourism, because of the traffic generated by the PBW in shopping centers,” he said.
Nadkyi Duque, President of APACECOM, explained that the PBW has successfully boosted the country’s economy. “For two years we have obtained over 90 million dollars in sales results, which has benefited commerce, hotels, transport, restaurants and tourism operators.”
Duque explained that the most requested shopping categories are appliances, jewelry and sports accessories. She also assured that Panama has a large infrastructure of shopping centers, shops and is one of the countries with the largest number of brands available in the region.
If you are interested in traveling to Panama to enjoy Panama Black Weekend, cantact your local travel agent.
(Photo: APACECOM/Freepik.)