Colon Panama Hotels

Even though the Radisson is located only 150 meters of the main entrance of the Free Zone, you will want a dependable driver/guide to take you into the Zone. Visitors must show their passports to enter the walled compound, and the rules for purchase vary for many of the worldwide representatives of manufacturers and distributors. Unless you are multi-lingual, a bilingual driver can guide you much more easily through your journey.
Although it is interesting to see the 94 acre (38 hectare) shopping area, it’s mainly for wholesale shoppers.

Many stores do sell merchandise at retail prices, but they will often ask for a minimum purchase or insist on selling in quantity, perhaps a half-dozen items. Some stores will allow visitors to take small purchases with them, but most items must be delivered to the airport or cruise ship, for you to pick up, upon your departure. Be sure to ask the store’s policy and the Free Zone’s rules before buying anything, to avoid a possible problem when leaving the zone. Ah, there’s another good reason for finding a guide with your best interests at heart, some of the drivers have become familiar with the policies of the various companies and can help you with planning where to go.
The most important ingredient to enjoying your visit to the Free Trade Zone, is time. To keep from causing yourself frustration, plan to spend a day and if your driver doesn’t have a map for you, ask for one at the entrance gate.

Remember Panama is only about nine degrees from the equator, and the temperature will be around 90 degrees (30 degrees centigrade) and it will most likely rain before your shopping expedition is completed. There are outside food vendors with a narrow selection of food choices, but there will be no food courts. So if you will expect more, bring it with you. Your choice of light weight clothing, sun screen and comfortable shoes will make a difference, in how much you enjoy your foot travel around this 94 acre (38 hectare) outdoor pedestrian mall.

And remember, tourists can shop wholesale or retail, while complying with the Free Zone rules: Your purchases may be shipped to you by freight, if you bought them at wholesale, with the appropriate customs paperwork. If you bought those products retail, they will be sent to the cruise ship or airport by which you are leaving Panama.

And you must plan to arrive in plenty of time – for your pick-up at the airport or ship package desk – to allow the paperwork to be completed on your purchases. So don’t expect to carry most of your purchases with you when you leave the Free Zone, and do expect to carry them along with you from the ship or airport, on your route home.

Panama hopes to surpass the 1.3 million tourists who chose to visit the country
in 2007 and to reach the number of 1.4 million visitors in 2008. This information came from the Panamanian Institute of Turismo (IPAT). The assistant director of the IPAT, Carl-Fredrik Nordström, claims that “the increase is the direct result of the promotions in North America, Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe”. The IPAT spent $1.9 million in 2007, on an advertising campaign with the catchphrase “It Remains in You”.

Meanwhile, a recent fire in Colon Free Trade Zone cost more than $20 million in damages and lasted for seven hours because the fire department didn’t have enough water pressure to control it. Warehouse owners have criticized the fire department for having no large fire management strategy and for not arriving fast enough to even have a chance to control the fire.

The canal is probably the most well known feature of Panama. In 1904, the US began constructing the Panama Canal. It took 10yrs and 380 million dollars to build the canal. It is considered to be the 6th Wonder of the World. It is a 50 mile-long transit route joining the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the narrow Isthmus of Panama. A ship coming from the Caribbean must enter the Gatun Locks, a series of stair-like concrete chambers. Electric locomotives called mules (because there once were mules doing this work), located on either side of the locks, guide the ship during this portion of the canal transit. Most people experience the diverse and beautiful isthmus from the deck of a ship or their balconies. Yet, travelers who venture on land will discover a country rich in wildlife and culture.
Some cruise ships that focus on the Caribbean, simply dock at the Colón 2000 port on the Atlantic side, with passengers who visited the Canal locks, took a day tour on the Panama Railway, visiting Portobelo or an Emberá Indian village, and carrying on to their next port of call — without ever entering the Panama Canal.