Nationals and foreigners will be able to enjoy, from January, the different activities that the coffee production involves.

Geisha coffee is not only enjoyed on the palate. Its virtues favor other economic activities, such as adventure tourism, gastronomy and agriculture. The rubiacea, cultivated at more than 1,500 meters above sea level, in Chiricans lands, has managed to position itself in the first place of the exclusive club of geishas in the world. The pound of this coffee, with multiple organoleptic characteristics (flavor, texture, smell, color or temperature), broke the world record when it was quoted at $ 803 in the last electronic auction The Best of Panama 2018.

With the Coffee Circuit, which includes the districts of Renacimiento, Boquete and Tierras Altas, it is intended to offer those who visit it a series of pleasures and activities with the distinctive elements of the region, said Felipe Rodríguez, president of the Center for Competitiveness of the Western Region (Cecomro).

The project is developed through a public-private partnership between the Ministry of Environment, the Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP) and the Cecomro. The consultancies and program design are developed with funds from the World Bank through the Ministry of Environment.

The program has a cost of 63 thousand 720 dollars, of which the World Bank, through the Ministry of Environment, will provide 49 thousand 420 dollars, said Rodriguez. "Panama's coffee, in recent years, has managed to position itself as the best coffee in the world.

Faced with this reality, businessmen in the region thought of creating a tourist route framed within the activities developed around the grain, "said Cecomro director. This model is not new in the region, countries such as Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia and Mexico have successfully developed tourist models associated with this line; in addition to similar models such as the tequila route in Mexico and wine in Chile and the United States.

The three districts covered by the circuit are lands that produce vegetables, legumes, milk and flowers, but coffee is the main crop, and through the development of the tourist route, profitability can be maintained, said Rodríguez.

"Panama's coffee, in recent years, has managed to position itself as the best coffee in the world. Faced with this reality, businessmen in the region thought of creating a tourist route framed within the activities developed around the grain, "said Cecomro director.

This model is not new in the region, countries such as Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia and Mexico have successfully developed tourist models associated with this line; in addition to similar models such as the tequila route in Mexico and wine in Chile and the United States. The three districts covered by the circuit are lands that produce vegetables, legumes, milk and flowers, but coffee is the main crop, and through the development of the tourist route, profitability can be maintained, said Rodríguez.

The Coffee Circuit is a tourism product that seeks to highlight the value of the grain that is produced in this region of the country, and that is positioned as a "destination brand, with seal of quality", said Gustavo Him, administrator of the ATP.

The ATP has trained 15 agrotourism farms in the three districts on issues of customer service, tourist guides, tourism animation, marketing and marketing of their product, said Irene Ortiz, director of Planning of the ATP.

In January 2019, the Circuito del Café will be officially launched with promotional packages that include touring the circuit, hotel rates, restaurants, among other activities. "Each tour operator will assemble their packages according to the market segment that they promote," said Him. "The product we are developing is a tourist circuit where national and foreign visitors live the experience of knowing coffee farms and witness the whole process: sowing, packaging, tasting or tasting the product, but above all having that direct contact with the producer who does this work, "he added. The idea is that tourists are in the province at least between 3 and 5 days. The promotional packages will be announced on the ATP website, visitpanama.com, said the official.