Venezuela to Earmark Big Money in 2005 for Tourism Promotion

The Venezuelan government will appropriate over $156 million in 2005 for tour and travel advertisement in an effort to lure more foreign travelers and put its own destinations on the map, Venezuela’s Tourism Deputy Minister Dalila Montserrat said this week.

Most plans for the upcoming year are focused on the opening of new travel destinations, like the Manaos-Margarita Axis, a combination that will benefit both Venezuela and Brazil.

In her annual yearend report on the status of the local travel sector, Mrs. Montserrat labeled 2004 as a pretty good year for an industry that chipped in 3.9 percent of the total GDP, some $3.9 billion.

The new promotional plan includes the opening of the tourist routes of Las Termas, Las Velas and La Religiosa, where trippers could visit sanctuaries and religious sites up in the mountains of central and western Venezuela.

Mrs. Montserrat also referred to her government’s projects to open a travel agency (VENETUR) with a view to sell travel packages through Conviasa, the new state-run airline.

The whole program banks on a hands-on advertisement campaign overseas that pursues the goal of making tourism’s contribution to the country’s GDP rise to 5 percent (some $5 billion).

In his recent tour to Eastern Europe, China and Russia, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez signed major economic and tourism agreements.