Cruising The Pearls And Fighting Taxes
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Dear Panama E-Letter Subscribers:
Cruising The Pearls And Fighting TaxesBy Matt Atlee Finally there is a luxury cruise ship service to Panama’s Pearl Islands. I say finally because the islands were a favorite getaway years ago for the powerful and well-known – Joe DiMaggio and FDR – and the best way to enjoy the Pearl Islands is to cruise around them on a ship rather than stay in one of the tired resorts on the more popular and well-worn islands. The small cruise ship – 33 rooms; 64 guests – is a German built ship called the Sea Voyager. The idea of the cruise is to allow guests to enjoy and explore the natural beauty of the Pearl Islands and then return to the ship to relax and enjoy the comfort of a first-class boutique hotel. The ship has a gym, spa, lounge and first-class restaurant.
The waters around the islands are famous for sport fishing, and at one time, for their Pearl beds; the beaches are blessed with white sand and the water is clear blue. But to really understand what there is to see in the Pearl Islands you have to be mobile and that’s what makes this cruise ship so great. Prices are $1,250 per person for a three day cruise with double occupancy. For a seven day cruise with double occupancy the price is $3,900. To see more about the new cruise ship in the Pearl Islands visit: cunadevida.com. Airport Expansion The Tocumen International Airport in Panama is expanding; the expansion will include a new terminal, and is expected to create 1,000 new jobs in Panama. Tocumen International Airport has been going through a number of improvements over the last few years. COPA airlines, the international airline based in Panama, has expanded its services and in response the airport has been improved. A few years ago the Tocumen airport was terrible – only one restaurant, not enough bathrooms, and overall the airport was just too small for the traffic, so the expansion of the airport should help attract more visitors. The next improvement to the airport should be the extension of decent public transportation to the airport. Right now you have to pay a taxi something like $25 to $30 to get from the airport to downtown Panama City. An inexpensive, clean and safe bus service to Tocuman airport from the city center would be attractive to any tourist who needs to travel back and forth to the airport and doesn’t want to spend $60 or more for the round trip. Tocuman airport is one of the few airports I’ve been to that does not have well-established public transportation links going to and from its doors. Tough Time Collecting Taxes Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli is having a tough time collecting taxes from the wealthier elements of Panamanian society. First, the major operators in the Colon Free Zone resisted Martinelli’s attempts to improve tax collection in the Free Zone; next, casino owners in Panama City decided they didn’t like the tax hike they were being asked to pay. Martinelli has argued that there is no real tax hike: he only wants to collect the taxes that are due to the state and which have not been paid for years. Casino owners say they will sue the state if they have to pay more taxes. Martinelli Meets The Pope Maybe Martinelli called on higher powers to help with tax collection during his visit last week to Italy. Martinelli met with Pope Benedicto XVI, who said he would visit Panama in 2013, and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who plans to visit Panama in January 2010 to donate $20 million to the building of a hospital in Veraguas, Province. Pope John Paul II visited Panama in 1983 during the first year of the Noriega dictatorship. The Catholic Church is not as powerful an institution in Panama as it is in other Latin American countries, but a Papal visit should help to solidify the base of the Church and draw the faithful away from the charismatic evangelical churches that have become popular with Panama’s lower classes. Italian Immigrants Speaking of Italians, I was at Panamanian immigration this past week and saw lots of Italians. President Martinelli is an Italian and there are some who think that this will mean all kinds of opportunities for Italians in Panama during his presidency. Silvio Berlusconi’s upcoming visit to Panama in January is a sign of the new, stronger relationship with Italy. Panama has always had a strong relationship with Italy: there is a special immigration agreement between Italy and Panama that goes back to the 1970s – the agreement makes it very easy for Italian citizens to get permanent residency in Panama. Police Get Pay Raise The police will be getting a large pay raise in Panama. Of all government workers it always seems like the police are the ones to get the pay raises. The cost of the raises will be $32 million. The hope is that the new raises will stop corruption in the police force and increase conditions of law and order. The police presence in Panama City has increased since Martinelli was elected, but violence has not abated, especially in the poorer neighborhoods of Panama City where there are still lots of shootings - just this past week there were seven major homicides in the country. Government Equity The Panamanian government has decided to keep its equity in the commanding heights of the Panamanian economy. The government owns 49% in hydroelectric; 49% in Cable & Wireless, the national telephone company; as well as a 10% interest in the port of Balboa. Gore Speaks Al Gore is planning to speak in Panama at the end of the month; Gore will give his famous “An Inconvenient Truth” speech at ATLAPA Theater. Tickets are between $100 and $300. Visa Law Update Panama is updating its visa laws. If you hold a visa to the U.S., Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom or any country that is part of the EU, you can enter Panama with only a tourist card. This will be beneficial to tourists that come from countries that do not have immigration agreements with Panama. So say you are from Gabon, and Gabon doesn’t have an immigration agreement with Panama, but you have a visa to visit the U.S., having the U.S. visa allows you to enter Panama on a tourist card. Before this law, as someone from Gabon, you would have had to find a Panamanian consulate and fill out an elaborate amount of paperwork before you could enter Panama. This should make it easier for tourists from lesser known countries to enter Panama. Written By Matt Atlee Panama 101 – E-Book – $69
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The Pearl Islands are the first South Sea Islands you hit as you travel out into the Pacific from the Western Hemisphere and they have always attracted adventurers – most famously Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, who discovered the Pacific Ocean for Europe on September 26, 1513.