Editing Panama (section)

===Tourism===
{{main|Tourism in Panama}}
{{more citations needed section|date=November 2015}}
[[File:Insel Zapatilla Panama.jpg|thumb|Zapatilla Island, Panama]]

Tourism in Panama has maintained its growth over the past five years due to government tax and price discounts to foreign guests and retirees. These economic incentives have caused Panama to be regarded as a relatively good place to retire.<ref>{{cite web|last=Peddicord|first=Kathleen|editor-last=Brandon|editor-first=Emily|url=https://money.usnews.com/money/retirement/baby-boomers/slideshows/best-places-to-retire-in-panama|title=The 10 Best Places to Retire in Panama|work=[[U.S. News & World Report]]|date=July 28, 2022|accessdate=December 19, 2022|archive-date=December 19, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221219215348/https://money.usnews.com/money/retirement/baby-boomers/slideshows/best-places-to-retire-in-panama|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Ascarelli|first=Silvia|url=https://www.marketwatch.com/story/i-never-expected-to-retire-to-panama-but-we-are-living-very-comfortably-on-1-200-a-month-11633001564|title=I never expected to retire to Panama — but we are living 'very comfortably' on $1,200 a month|publisher=[[MarketWatch]]|date=June 4, 2022|orig-date=September 30, 2021|accessdate=December 19, 2022|archive-date=December 19, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221219215348/https://www.marketwatch.com/story/i-never-expected-to-retire-to-panama-but-we-are-living-very-comfortably-on-1-200-a-month-11633001564|url-status=live}}</ref> Real estate developers in Panama have increased the number of tourism destinations in the past five years because of interest in these visitor incentives.<ref>[http://www.redfrogbeach.com/panama.html Redfrogbeach.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091013113646/http://www.redfrogbeach.com/panama.html |date=October 13, 2009 }}, [http://www.islapalenque.com/location/panama Isla Palenque] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111030091917/http://www.islapalenque.com/location/panama |date=October 30, 2011 }}, examples</ref>

The number of tourists from Europe grew by 23.1 percent during the first nine months of 2008. According to the Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP), from January to September, 71,154 tourists from Europe entered Panama, 13,373 more than in same period the previous year. Most of the European tourists were Spaniards (14,820), followed by Italians (13,216), French (10,174) and British (8,833). There were 6997 from Germany, the most populous country in the European Union. Europe has become one of the key markets to promote Panama as a tourist destination.

In 2012, 4.585 billion US dollars entered into the Panamanian economy as a result of tourism.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Panama Tourism Statistics 1995-2025 |url=https://www.macrotrends.net/global-metrics/countries/PAN/panama/tourism-statistics |access-date=2025-01-01 |website=www.macrotrends.net}}</ref> This accounted for 11.34 percent of the [[gross national product]] of the country,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Development and importance of tourism for Panama |url=https://www.worlddata.info/america/panama/tourism.php |access-date=2025-01-01 |website=Worlddata.info |language=en}}</ref> surpassing other productive sectors.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}} The number of tourists who arrived that year was 2.2 million.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Agarwal |first1=Tanya |last2=Suresh |first2=Sandeep |last3=Saha |first3=Sourish |last4=S. |first4=Varun |last5=Narayan |first5=Varun|date=March 9, 2014|title=The Republic of Panama: An Economic Analysis |language=en|journal=[[Elsevier]] |at=section 1.A.ii ("Tourism")|ssrn=2406629 }}</ref>

[[File:Fortifications on the Caribbean Side of Panama Portobelo-San Lorenzo-108169.jpg|thumb|[[Fortifications on the Caribbean Side of Panama: Portobelo-San Lorenzo]] were declared a [[World Heritage Site]] by [[UNESCO]] in 1980.]]

Panama enacted Law No. 80 in 2012 to promote foreign investment in tourism. Law 80 replaced an older Law&nbsp;8 of 1994. Law&nbsp;80 provides 100 percent exemption from [[income tax]] and real estate taxes for 15 years, duty-free imports for construction materials and equipment for five years, and a [[capital gain]]s tax exemption for five years.<ref>Juan José Espino Sagel. [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304043803/http://www.pardinilaw.com/publications/news.php?newsid=271&p=3&catid=6 Panama enacts new Tourism Law: Law 80 of 2012]. pardinilaw.com</ref>