FITVEN 2012: Venezuelan Government Plans to Woo International Visitors

Despite boasting spectacular scenery, a temperate year-round climate and the longest Caribbean coastline of any Latin American country, the number of tourists visiting Venezuela is still low. According to the BBC, this is something that Venezuelan tourism officials hope to change in the near future.

Recreational tourism in Venezuela is remarkably low in comparison to other Central American countries. The news source reports that in 2009, only 600,000 people visited Venezuela, while neighboring Colombia attracted more than 2 million. In addition, the news source reports that many people who visit Venezuela do so for business or academic reasons, as opposed to leisure trips.

Some experts believe the government's changing positions on domestic tourism have contributed to Venezuela's consistently low tourism figures.

"The ministry has changed slogans, image, concepts, markets constantly," said Julio Arnaldes, president of the country's tourism council, Conseturismo, as quoted by the news source. "There've been a series of changes that basically have just generated distortion and confusion in the international market."

Earlier this year, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced a partnership with Cuba to develop a series of luxury resorts along the country's Caribbean Coast, reports the Latin American Herald Tribune. The complexes will be constructed in Vargas, which suffered extensive damage during heavy flooding in 1999, leaving many of the buildings in the area to remain abandoned to this day.