Day 5– Copa Airlines

 

Hola!

For those of you who are following this blog and were expecting more frequent updates – I sincerely apologize for the frequency in which this blog is updated. Firstly, it’s really been one heck of a trip – one of my best even on a conservative measure and definitely a weighted compliment as I’ve been to more than 10 countries prior to this trip. As such, at the end of most days, I’m pretty much exhausted (in a good way of course) and would rather sit back, relax and enjoy the night scenery from my hotel room with a glass of well, fruit juice. Secondly, Marriott, a 5-star hotel if I’m not mistaken, decides that its customers are too well-off to provide them with free Wi-Fi internet connection, and instead charges them $13 for a 24hr access, and as such, for coming online I’m forking out my own pocket money which unfortunately, has been depleting a little (sorry dad!).

Anyway, without further ado, I present you DAY 5, where we visited Copa Airline’s HQ and subsequently the airport. At the HQ, we were given a presentation of Copa Airline’s marketing strategy – how successfully they have integrated social media – Facebook & Twitter into branding and generating sales.

It is interesting how a small company operating in Panama developed into one of the region’s top player, even known as the hub of the Americas. From its inception in 1992 with just 12 cities in 10 countries, it is now the leader in connecting the Americas – connecting 57 cities in 28 countries. It is in the process of expanding its hub, adding two more hubs to the now four hubs – forever changing the skyline of the Americas. Obviously, a company in an emerging market is not to be taken lightly! In fact, in-line with the theme of this whole course, companies operating in emerging markets tend to be more innovative and adaptive, given their circumstances (lack of transparency, lack of infrastructure etc.), giving them an added ‘advantage’.

Later at the airport, we were greeted by Sherly, a cheerful and energetic lady who now is the supervisor of Copa Airlines in the airport. She meticulously explained to us their day-to-day operations, took us onto the tarmac grounds where we witnessed for ourselves the refilling of the plane etc. and even let us in into the President’s club – reserved only for their exclusive cardholders. It was certainly an eye-opener for all of us.

Anyway, I’m sure everyone is more excited about looking at the pictures, so here we go :

Presentation at Copa’s HQ on their social media strategy

Participants giving their full attention to Sherly

Why can’t the U.S. have that many check-in counters? Taking Customer’s satisfaction into consideration, Copa has through the years, increased its check-in counters

Exclusive access to the tarmac ground

Jane and I having a little fun with the baggage buggy

President’s club – look at those oh-so-comfy chairs

 

Anyway, nothing is complete with a video – the closest way for you to experience what we experienced. As we were split up into 2 different groups, the credits to this video goes to Juan Carlos, our university-going tour guide.

Next up : Best experience ever! Visited the Embera Indian Village and the waterfall – wasn’t told until afterwards that we were sharing waters with crocodiles – so definitely look out for my next post! To just give you a little sneak peak, here’s a video of the lovely waterfalls!