Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
in particular, have gained valuable income from cruise ship tours and day-trip groups from
travel agencies in Panama City because of their proximity to the capital. But the long-term
effect when large groups swamp small villages in high season, eroding the land of the village
and tramping en masse down the same rainforest trail, is more difficult to gauge. Moreover,
the impact on the marine environment of the cruise ship industry - the area of tourism in
which the government has invested most heavily - is a further unknown.
By and large, visitor numbers are small in most indigenous communities that engage with
tourism, the exception being in the western end of Guna Yala. This is partly due to the com-
pletion of a road across the cordillera from the Panamerican Highway, which has allowed
faster, cheaper access. Day-tripping Panamanians and beach-loving backpackers make up the
bulk of the visitors: for small, overpopulated islands with inadequate sanitation and often ad
hoc waste disposal, there's untold pressure on the natural resources.
The beautiful islands of Bocas del Toro, the most visited area outside the capital, suffer
from similar problems as water and electricity systems struggle to cope with the high visitor
numbers and without proper sewage and water treatment works, the current situation is un-
sustainable. On the positive side, turtle watching is taking off here, and in other areas of
Panama, which as an income-generating project might eventually help protect their nesting
sites. However, in Bocas, as elsewhere in Panama, visitor numbers are not regulated, which
puts untold pressure on natural resources.
