re-published
Under the leadership of Andres Izarra, Venezuela’s Ministry of Tourism is putting into action a number of new initiatives designed to boost international visits to the Caribbean country and tap into the tremendous potential for economic growth that the industry represents.
The short term goal is to increase visits to Venezuela from 782,000 last year to one million in 2013, with the beach resort island of Margarita becoming the centrepiece of the tourist industry.
“We believe that with tourism, we have a tool for the generation of foreign exchange and for making the economy more dynamic quickly and effectively” Izarra said.
To make this happen, the socialist government is increasing the number of planes in the fleet of the state airline, Conviasa as well as strengthening links with Northern Brazil, an important source of tourist dollars.
With heavy investment in infrastructure, Venezuela government sets sights on tourism development “By the end of the year, six planes should be arriving and President Maduro has approved the purchase of seven more… This is going to help build air connections in all of Venezuela”, Izarra informed.
The former communication minister pointed out that one of the major obstacles affecting the growth of the nation’s tourist industry has been the international press, which has gone to great lengths to exaggerate the levels of violence in the South American country.
“The principal threat to tourism in Venezuela is the negative campaign that the international media and the hegemonic press have against Venezuela”,Izarra stated.
This negativity, he said, has been aided by members of the nation’s right-wing who have attempted to damage the reputation of the country for political purposes. “It’s sad that so many Venezuelans are taking part in this campaign against Venezuela”, he affirmed.
To combat the sensationalism, the minister described what he called “an aggressive” effort to promote the country” at the international level”.
BUILDING INFRASTRUCTURE
Whereas tourism contributes 9 percent to global GDP, in Venezuela
the sector only accounts for 3.8 percent. Although the country is home to a vast diversityof landscapes, which, apart from first-class Caribbean beaches, includes snow-capped Andean mountains, amazon jungle, and expansive plains, the tourist infrastructure is still underdeveloped.
Key new works to improve services currently being undertaken by
the government include the revamping of hotels and the reconditioning
of roads that represent important travel routes around the nation. There are also a number of major projects underway such as a new cable car in the Andean city of Merida which, when finished, will be the longest and highest of its kind in the world.
“This year we are dedicating ourselves to the cable car and to tourism in the mountains in order to promote and prepare the city of Merida for the tourist avalanche that is coming”, Izarra said in a ministry press release.
The new tram will take visitors to an altitude of over 14,000 feet to the base of Venezuela’s highest mountain, Pico Bolivar, and is slated to be completed by July 2014. More than $125 million was approved earlier this month, through popular participation of the Merida community, to
ensure the time termination of the project.
Smaller cable car initiatives in the capital of Caracas are also being completed that will link the metropolis with the surrounding mountains
as well as the beaches of the state of Vargas located on the other side of the coastal range.
Central to the success of the transportation systems in the capital is the renovation of Hotel Humboldt, an architectural icon built upon Avila peak just outside Caracas. Constructed in 1958 by the government of Marcos Perez Jimenez, the facility has passed through various stages of use, privatization and abandonment, prompting former President
Hugo Chavez to nationalize the complex in 2007 and resume its restoration. “When [Hotel Humboldt] becomes operational and the cable car begins working, Venezuela is going to be the only destination in Latin America that will have sun and beach half an hour away from mountains and the city of Caracas”, the minister explained.
An additional three hotels in Caracas, the western city of Maracaibo, and Morrocoy National Park have been granted 440 million bolivars ($69.8 million) in government credits for renovation that will improve
tourist installations.
BRINGING VISITORS TO THE AMAZON
Since becoming minister in April, Minister Izarra has been visiting potential destinations around the country and encouraging innovative projects that will enhance development of the tourist industry, Last Saturday, he led a delegation to the state of Amazonas, pointing out the uniqueness of the area and the need to work with local communities to develop activities. “The idea is that we work here to build a community tourist company that will allow the inhabitants to develop the national and international tourism that comes here”, Izarra said during a meeting with the Raudal de Ceguera community.
The cabinet member also stressed the importance of training workers in the sector and increasing the ministry’s environmental efforts when
working in fragile ecological zones such as the Amazon. “Nature has been very kind to the state of Amazonas.
There are tourist sites here to develop that are one-of-a-kind in the world. The idea is to develop them together with the aboriginal communities that are the original protectors of the wealth of this zone”, the minister stated.
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