With less than 100 days to go to World Youth Day (WYD) 2019 in Panama, security forces volunteers, and hosts who have offered accommodation to visiting pilgrims are readying for the event with Pope Francis as the star guest.

Projections of the number of young people likely to attend have fallen from 4,00,000  when the venue was first announced to just above 200,000 which will still provide a welcome fillip to Panama’s staggering tourism industry which has seen thousands of layoffs in hotels, restaurants, casinos and related businesses.

The country’s Tourism Authority (ATP) hopes to ease the bleeding  and  showcase some of the country’s attractions away from the capital city

The event runs from January 22 to 27, 2019, and in the run-up period Pre-Day will be held in all the dioceses of the country The Pope will arrive on January 23, and while most events will take place on the Cinta Costera, the site of the mass the Pontiff will celebrate has not been announced.

Terminal 2 at  Tocumen International Airport is expected to be ready in time, and part of Metro Line  2 will be operating,  with the complete extension ready in time for a presidential tour ahead of the May elections.

No plans have been announced for dealing with Panama’s traffic snarl and illegal street parking during WYD.