WHILE overall tourist visitsto Panama declined In the first four months of the year  visits by Europeans  climbed 20%. There were 73,788 European visitors, with Spain leading the with 19,561, followed by the French with 10,553 and the Germans with 8,221.

According to figures from the Tourism Authority , European tourists are spending more per day and on average their stays are for 9.3 days. One of the reasons explaining the upurgein recent months is the increase in flight frequencies between the old continent and Tocumen International Airport, which now totaling 25 flights a week.

"...Although Latin America as a region is the main market for Panama, Europe is in second place as the fastest growing, second only to Africa, which scored 25.9%, but had a smaller flow of visitors" reported Capital.com.pa.
"... In total, during the first quarter 600,346 tourists arrived in the country, 202,206 were cruise passengers, 56,022 day trippers, making a total of 859,574, with expenditures of approximately $1.222 billion, representing accommodation expenses of $1.423 billion, or $167 a day. During this period, the arrival of visitors from North America experienced a reduction of 3.9%, there was also a decrease in the entry of travelers from Asia of 4% and the West Indies of 17.3%."