More Funds on the Way for Venezuela´s Travel Industry

The cash flow going into Venezuela´s Tourism Fund could soar to nearly $9.4 billion in 2005, according to estimates reckoned by Jaime Padron, president of the Autonomous Institute of the National Fund for Tourism Promotion and Training (INATUR is the acronym in Spanish).

The figure is based on a successful promotional campaign launched by the administration of President Hugo Chavez in an effort to bring the issue home among officials and the general public, sources close to the institute told local news agency Venpres.

Mr. Padron underscored that INATUR is working diligently to raise the necessary funds and give the national leisure industry a big leg up.

In conjunction with Venezuela´s Education and Sports ministries, INATUR is bent on moving ahead with three pilot programs aimed at making tourism a part of the country´s educational system.