The Allies who make Open Passport Award 11 possible: when sponsorship becomes a cultural gesture

In a world where events often list their sponsors as if they were mere names on a page, Open Passport Award 11 chose a different path: to view those who support the celebration as an essential part of the story that will be told that day. Not as brands that appear, but as organizations, companies, and individuals who believe in the value of travel journalism as a tool for identity, community, and the future.

This year, the vibrant city of Panama will not only welcome journalists from different continents; it will also become the stage where those who decided to invest in something beyond an event are publicly recognized: investing in narratives, in the possibility that destination stories continue to travel farther than airplanes. 

Sponsoring the future of tourism, not just a banner

The sponsors of Open Passport Award11 were chosen and invited under a different criterion: their ability to understand that tourism is not just an industry, but a collective story. Therefore, their participation is presented not as commercial support, but as shared cultural construction.  

Each of them, from public agencies to private initiatives and independent projects, contributes something that transcends traditional sponsorship: vision, trust, ideas, risk, time, and above all, belief in what travel journalism can offer society.

When a sponsor doesn’t seek the spotlight… and ends up in it

Interestingly, none of this year’s allies requested “extra visibility,” “VIP areas,” or endless mentions. They asked for something much simpler, yet deeper: “We want  Open Passport Award to keep growing.”  

In an ecosystem of events where repeated logos fill every wall, this gesture speaks of a different kind of relationship. It speaks of sponsors who do not sponsor to occupy space, but to sustain a space they themselves consider necessary.

That is their true protagonism.

Support that moves systems, not just people

Tourism is a living organism. It breathes, adapts, feels, and changes. The sponsors of Open Passport Award 11 understood this and positioned their contribution like placing a piece in a complex system: with intention, care, and long-term vision.

Their collaboration will allow:

• Keeping opportunities open for journalists in training

• Expanding the visibility of emerging destinations

• Promoting research on new trends

• Connecting professionals from different countries

• And above all, celebrating the role of the travel journalist as a cultural translator of the world

Open Passport Award 11: A ceremony that also gives thanks forward

On January 30, when the lights shine in Panama City, it will not only honor journalistic excellence. It will also recognize a silent but fundamental alliance: that of those who believe that supporting responsible tourism communication is supporting the right of communities to be told with respect and depth.

Open Passport Award 11 thanks its sponsors not for what they have given, but for what they have understood: that an event like this is sustained not by applause, but by conviction.

Sponsors:

1. Hoteles Bern @HotelesPanamaBern

2. Publimovil @publimovilpanama

3. Podium @PodiumPanama

4. Hotel Golden Tower @HotelGoldenTower

5. Autoridad del Canal @CanalDePanama

6. Café Coca Cola @CafeCocaColaPanama

7. Geisha Experience @GeishaExperience

8. Museo del Canal @museodelcanal

9. Bio Museo @biomuseo

10. Poin Panama @poinpanama

11. Colon 2000 Duty Free @Colon2000DutyFree

12. CACCO @coloncacco

13. MR JACO ZOO

14. Zona Libre @zolicol

15. Hotel Isla Grande @hotel_Isla_Grande

16. Hotel Sand Diamond @sanddiamondhotel

17. Patronato Portobelo y San Lorenzo @ptyppsl

18. Linton Bay @lintonbaymarina

19. Morada de La Bruja @LaMoradaDeLaBruja

20. Dive Panama @scubapanama

21. Playa La Angosta @PlayaLaAngostaColon

22. Cocotal @hotelcocotal 

23. Assist Card @Assistcard

24. Sabroso Panampá @Sabroso_Panama

25. COPA Airlines @Copaairlines