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Meet our Events Coordinator - Martin Harrington
 Born in Panama City, Republic of Panama, 60 years ago… Marty was raised in Colon, on the Canal´s Atlantic entrance, & his childhood education was with the La Salle Christian Brothers there.
At 10, his Father moved the family to Panama City at the Pacific entrance to the Canal, where he was educated by the Jesuits & the N.Y.-based Parochial Nuns in the former U.S. Canal Zone.
Marty's Father, a second generation Irishman who graduated from Notre Dame, came to Panama in 1939 to work with the U.S. Treasury at Pier 6 in Cristobal (today a cruise port operated by Panama Ports Co.). He met a Panamanian gal who worked at the Panama Canal´s Administration Building, & they later on married & had 4 sons & a daughter. Marty is the eldest.
When JFK was President of the USA 45 years ago, Marty was sent to the USA to be educated by the Benedictine Monks at St. John´s in Minnesota.
Graduated from the Univ. of Miami with a Bachelor´s in Business Administration (BBA), Marty worked in the airlines in both Miami & Atlanta, prior to returning to his native PANAMA 25 years ago.
In these last 25 years, he has worked in 4 different Panama Govt. jobs. Firstly with the National Investment Council, secondly with Foreign Trade, thirdly as the Director of Security at Panama´s International Airport, & until mid-June 2007, he was the Cruise Director for the Panama Govt. Tourism Bureau (IPAT) for almost the last decade.
With no political affiliation or background, a true Career Civil Servant who served under 8 male Presidents & one female President over a 25-yr. period. A true, “Specie on the verge of extinction”, to say the least.
Uncle Marty, as he is known in Panama´s tourism industry, has been invited by the Governments of Brazil, Costa Rica & Mexico, to give talks in those countries about Panama´s foreign trade & the experiences lived within Panama´s cruise industry. On Official Missions on behalf of the Government, he has also given talks on PANAMA in Belgium, Spain, Holland, Germany & Ireland in Europe… as well as in Canada, the USA, México, Belize & all 5 countries of Central America.
In the Caribbean, Uncle Marty has given PANAMA talks in Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Havana & Guadaloupe, as well as the South American countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Guyana, Peru, Ecuador, Chile & Argentina.
Asia is not to be left out, having traveled on Official Missions to Taiwan, and twice to Japan & Korea. With the United Nations, he has given talks in the Peoples´ Republic of China (PRC), where Beijing-based Party Members of the Central Committee were in the audience.
And the United Nations translators for the Govt. of the Peoples´ Republic of China (PRC) wanted to know where this Panamanian got his Minnesota accent!
He was a Member of the Miami Lions Club, as well as the world-tourism-related SKAL Club in Atlanta, prior to moving back to his native PANAMA & joining the Panama Lions Club.
Married for 35 years (to the same woman, of course!), Uncle Marty is the proud Father of former MISS PANAMA (who represented the country in the Miss World Contest in South Africa in 1992), and currently the Mother of his 3 grandchildren in New Jersey.
 His son, 25-yr-old Joseph Sean, worked for 2 seasons with the television adventure series, “SURVIVOR” when it was held in back-to-back years at the Pacific island of Contadora in PANAMA, and is currently the Asst. Shore Excursion Manager onboard Celebrity Cruise Lines´ “INFINITY” in Alaska & Vancouver.
Back in 1984, when Uncle Marty worked for the Panama Investment Council, he was requested by the Government to escort Sam Walton when he visited PANAMA for 48-hours. An experience in humility, with a sense of humor!
And during the 2003 Miss Universe Pageant held in PANAMA for the second time ever, Uncle Marty was transferred from the Panama Tourism Bureau to the Miss Universe Pageant for 34 days.
Having to take all 72 beauty queens throughout the country in groups of 8 with the NBC Television Film Crew, Uncle Marty was assigned to undertake this grueling responsibility…. where his arms were “forcibly” twisted backwards … but Uncle Marty ALWAYS remembered JFK´s Inaugural Speech, when he said: “Ask not what your country can do for you, but instead ask what YOU can do for your country”.
For the last 3 cruise seasons, and all decked out in his Train Conductor uniform, Uncle Marty has also been moonlighting as the Tour Guide on the double decker, VIP, First-Class, glass-covered Dome Car that is operated by the Kansas City Southern Railway & Chicago-based “Mi-JACK Products”, on the World`s First Trans-Continental train. (www.panarail.com).
And on weekends the last couple of years, Uncle Marty is the Guide on the tourist ships transiting the Panama Canal. (www.canalandbaytours.com). At Christmas time, Uncle Marty dresses up as Santa Claus for the Children`s Hospital & local Orphanage in PANAMA!
Contact Marty |
