22- The visitor / el visitante
december / diciembre 22-28, 2011
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Bananas Village Resort leads the way to tourism quality By José Díaz
T
he government pilot program to encourage service standards in tourism has an ally on Isla Grande on the Costa Arriba section of the Colón province on the Caribbean coast. Of the 30 hotels, travel agencies and tour guides enrolled in the program, Banana Village Resort is the only participant that is located outside the capital city. City dwellers enjoy trips to Isla Grande because it is only 90 minutes via the toll highway, then taking a right at Sabanitas and passing the historical Portobelo site. Just past this Unesco World Heritage Site, in the port town of La Guaira, Isla Grande is just a five minute boat ride away. Ample and secure parking is offered in guarded lots on the mainland. Isla Grande is a tiny paradise inhabited by barely 100 people. Vegetation on the island is dense but one interesting path through the center of the island leads to an abandoned lighthouse or you can walk along the coastline of the island. The standard price of the boat ride from La Guaira to the island is $5, but the location of Bananas Resort on the north side of the island near a coral reef doubles the price. Unexpected turns give context to trips like this, in this case a shower of rain. The driver of the boat suggested we stop at the beach on the landward side of the island to shelter from the rain before continuing around the island
to Bananas. It gave us an opportunity to find an exquisite restaurant under the shelter ahead, and The first 30 tourism businesses to enter in service standardization Hotels: Hotel Plaza Paitilla Inn, El Panamá, Holiday Inn City of Knowledge, Albrook Inn, Marriot Panamá, De Ville, Continental, Bananas Village Resort, Country Inn Suites y Avila Inn. Travel Agencies: Panama Star Tours, Margo Tours, Aventuras 2000, Arian´s Tours, Turista Internacional, Panatours 507, Viajes Tivoli, Columbia Tours, MZ Travel y Olimpic L´Alianza. Guides: José Uno, Archivaldo Kirchman, Kimaura González, Roberto Ríos, Olmedo Guzmán, Bianca Pérez, Manuel Arango, Orlando Harris, Yimara Cedeño y Jaime Ford. try a delicious seafood dish called Cambombia, rich in flavor and, according to the owner, containing aphrodisiac properties. We arrived at the resort after dark and by the time we checked in the kitchen was about to close, so we decided on the soup of the day, a superior creation prepared by the cook from Guna Yala [formerly Kuna Yala] that contained seafood and coconut milk. The manager at Bananas Village, Argentine Alejandro Nordi, came to say hello. "I am not going to stop until I get one of the 30
quality certifications from the Panama Tourism Authority”, he says. By the next morning, the earth had dried enough to take a solid walk around the island. We reached the lighthouse, from where we could see young people surfing. Not far from them some tourists shoved off to fish with a local guide. The sun was high and the Caribbean gloried in its palate of green blue and turquoise.The tour to see the mangroves that form a tunnel of love at Mamey Island was taking off in an hour. So there was time to capture the moment.
Certified for a dream
Following the Spanish tourism model, the ATP has so far invested $300,000 in consulting, tourism quality standards, technical standard committees, and certification entities. The objective is to spread the understanding of certain standards so that the personnel at businesses can learn skills necessary for receiving tourists. Hotels, travel agencies or guides that are interested in obtaining the certification can buy the corresponding standard norm packet for their business, which costs around $10. Only when the norms have been adopted should businesses contact a certifying agency whose fees will range between $1,000 and $3,000. Fortunately for the first 30 businesses currently following this pilot program, the total cost of the effort is being covered by the government.