A coherent marketing campaign is key to Panama’s success

Due to its privileged geographical position, Panama attracts many world-class professionals who, with their knowledge and experience, strengthen the various sectors that comprise the country’s tourism industry. One of such professionals is Idu Ribeiro, General Manager of the Marriott Panama Hotel. A native of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, Ribeiro engaged in his most recent professional transition in December of 2018, by being transferred to his current position after managing the Marriott Executive Apartments, which are also located in downtown Panama City.

Commenting on the experience, Ribeiro stated, “Although both properties belong to the same chain, they cater to different markets. The Executive Apartments are a long-stay establishment featuring, as their name suggests, apartments equipped with kitchen, living/dining rooms, etc. –in other words, a residential experience complemented by a hotel-style service. The Marriott Panama, on the other hand, is a full-service hotel designed for conventional travelers. One of its main fortes is its catering service –and most especially our ‘outside catering’ service which is unique in Panama.

His expectations on Panama’s tourism industry

Ribeiro believes that the challenges a hotel manager faces are the ‘micro’ version of those faced by the tourism industry as a whole, and therefore sees the launch Panama’s International Marketing Fund (PROMTUR) in a positive light. On this, he said,

“The Marketing Fund is a very important tool for the country. It is a known fact that incredible results are yielded whenever the central government forgoes a country’s international tourist promotion, as the country’s marketing then becomes a long-term policy. The expectations of the private sector are precisely to engage in long-term work with the public sector to see long-term results, and to prevent projects from being filed every five years.”

The upcoming opening of the Amador Convention Center is yet another project that, with the cooperation of the Marketing Fun, according to Ribeiro, will place Panama on the international MICE map due to the structural features and state-of-the-art technology of the new facility. “[The new Convention Center] is a new opening door that was previously not there for Panama. This is something that Atlapa [Convention Center] simply could not do. The new center undoubtedly is a great tool for the country,” he stressed.

Although he believes the launch of the Marketing Fund and the new Convention Center present great opportunities for Panama, Ribeiro stated that the key to success lies in the unification and coherence of the country’s nation branding. “Panama boasts living indigenous cultures and the best coffee in the world hails from Boquete, yet many people don’t know anything about us. Besides, the Canal, despite being the country’s symbol par excellence, continues to be a self-promoting enterprise instead of being marketed from a tourism perspective. The time has come for a national brand to be defined, and to divulge it at the international level,” he commented.

Getting to know Idu Ribeiro

A native of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, Iru Ribeiro has university degrees in Hotel Management and Business Administration, and has complemented his education with 6 certifications in Leadership and Human Resources Management at Cornell University in the U.S.

Ribeiro boasts 22 years’ experience in the hotel industry –a career he started in Orlando, Florida relocating to Boston shortly thereafter. It was there that he began his professional relationship with the Marriott hotel chain, starting as a valet parking chauffer. As years passed, he ascended the corporate ladder to reach managerial positions in Spain, Argentina, his native Brazil, and Panama where he has been living and working for the last 10 years. A sports enthusiast, Idu Ribeiro enjoys running, in addition to biking, swimming, playing padel, and surfing, among other activities.