Panama City, Monday June 23, 2025 - To articulate efforts to promote sustainable cultural tourism and preserve Panama's heritage, the Panama Tourism Authority (ATP) and the Ministry of Culture (MiCultura) today signed a framework convention for cooperation in tourism and culture that lays down technical and administrative co-ordination mechanisms for the implementation of programmes, projects and activities of mutual interest.

"Tourism isn't just about getting to a place but about connecting with what we are," said ATP's General Administrator, Gloria De León Zubieta. "Panama isn't just a destination, it's a living story that sits in its streets, it's singing at its festivals and embraces itself at every meeting with our people. When culture and tourism walk together, we create memories that transform, inspire and pride us as a country."
The Convention lays down guidelines for:

• To conduct cultural activities at tourist destinations with promotion at national and international events.
• To promote active social participation for continuous improvement of destinations.
• To provide technical assistance and training to municipalities for better cultural management.
• Support the improvement of urban image in tourist spaces, favouring both visitors and local people.
• To align efforts with the process of updating the Master Tourism Plan advanced by the ATP.
  That partnership was justifiable by the need to strengthen both the tourism product and the institutional and professional capabilities of the sector, with a view to enabling the economic spill of tourism to benefit as many Panamanians as possible and to contribute to the sustainability of natural and cultural resources.
• The Minister of Culture, María Eugenia Herrera stated that this convention marks a new model of collaboration between Culture and Tourism with a common and sustained agenda that will help to advance joint projects, strengthen the cultural offer of the country and ensure that benefits come directly to communities.
• Through a technical commission, strategic planning and active participation of the territories, we seek to make culture an engine of development, employment and national pride.
• With the signing of this convention, Panama reaffirms its commitment to a tourist model that celebrates its identity, strengthens its communities and projects the cultural soul of the nation to the world.