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Similarly to the way in which non-European visitors often make the effort to see several European countries during their stay, Costa Rica and Panama are encouraging tourists to do the same when they visit Central America. At present, most tourists to Central America tend to limit themselves to one resort, or at the very least one country. The Costa Rican and Panamanian governments are keen to stimulate tourism across both countries to iron out developing inequalities in wealth.

To encourage greater exploration of the area, Air Costa Rica and Air Panama have combined efforts to launch two new routes between the Costa Rican capital of San Jose and two popular destinations in Panama. The flights, which began on January 6th, will head to the tourist island of Bocas del Toro and the border city of David – a popular starting point for those travelling to northern Panama. The flights will run on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. "This agreement marks the beginning of a new tourism strategy between our neighboring countries," CNN reported the airlines as saying.

The new flights are part of a larger effort within Central America to encourage package tourism deals that include destinations in several countries. In 2004 – the latest figures available – 5.7 million people visited Central America, a 15 percent increase over 2003.

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