Panama Offers Free Travel Insurance to Boost Inbound Tourism

As a way to boost its international inbound travel, Panama is covering the cost of travel insurance.

Foreign tourists coming to Panama will now automatically receive travel insurance coverage without having to pay, or even fill out paperwork, for the first 10 days of their travel. The program is one of the first of its kind. Other countries funded similar programs, like Ukraine or Jamaica’s emergency protection programs, during the pandemic, but Panama is one of the first to do it in order to boost tourism.

The insurance is being fully covered by the Panama Tourism Authority, with the policy administered by Compañía Internacional de Seguros, S.A. There are only a few requirements.

The first is that the traveler is up to 86 years of age. The second is that they come in through a participating Panamanian airport: Tocumen International Airport (Panama City), Panamá Pacific International Airport (Panama), Enrique Malek International Airport (Chiriquí), Scarlett Martínez Airport (Río Hato, Coclé), Enrique Adolfo Jiménez International Airport (Colón), and José Ezequiel Hall International Airport (Isla Colón, Bocas del Toro).

As long as travelers meet those two requirements, they’ll automatically be able to contact the program’s assistance channels if something goes wrong on their trip.

The coverage, just like any policy, has its own benefits and limits, including:

• Hospitalization and medical expenses up to US$15,000.
• Medical transportation within Panama up to US$10,000.
• Medical repatriation up to US$50,000.
• Additional coverage includes emergency dental care, accidental death, medications, legal assistance following an accident, and assistance for lost or stolen documents.

Tourism to Panama has been trending up the past few years. The country welcomed 1.76 million international visitors in the first half of 2026 alone—a 17.4% increase over the same period last year. Along with the new insurance program, Panama also recently launched the Panama Stopover program (run in tandem with Copa Airlines), which recently expanded to let travelers stay up to 15 days at no extra airfare cost.