If
asked why you should go to Panama, the first thing most people think of is the
Panama Canal. It is an engineering marvel, considered the 8th wonder of the
world. Panama is in Central America joining North America at the top and South
America at the bottom. It is a narrow strip of land with Costa Rica at its
northern end and Colombia at it southern end. The Canal was excavated through
one of the narrowest areas of the land thereby opening a waterway uniting the
Pacific Ocean at the west side to the Atlantic Ocean at the east side providing
a passage and shorter route for vessels and cargoes transiting the two oceans.
Hence, Panama is often known as “The Bridge of the World.”
The
Canal has been instrumental in transforming Panama into a booming metropolis
with soaring skyscrapers running for miles along its coastline. As important
and famous as the Canal is, Panama boasts of many other attractions: outdoor
adventures – bio-diverse tropical rain forests, mountains, miles of ocean;
historic ruins and living Indian cultures; world-class infrastructure and
tourism amenities. But there is yet another that we would consider an
attraction but fewer may be aware of nor officially listed and promoted because
to do so, will turn it into a case of the promoter being promoted. Can you
think of that something?
If
you are a mister pageant fanatic, you might have guessed it right. It is the
Panama hosted, tourism oriented pageant – Mister Tourism International. Every
year in Panama, close as many as twenty contestants from around the world come
together for the annual event. Organizers have set their sights on bringing the
world to Panama through this international event not only in terms of delegates
but also tourists and pageant following as well.
Born
in 2001 but with intermittent implementation in earlier years, the pageant has
produced six winners so far, four from Americas and two from Europe. The
current winner is the Brazilian Andrio Frazon.
This
year Mister Tourism International World Finals is slated for October 19-25 and
heaping up a sizable number of eye-catching tourism ambassadors. With the
competition shaping up and expectations of bigger and grander staging in the
coming years, Panama should definitely be on your short list of places to visit
and revisit.