South America’s tourism industry as a whole has profited from the region’s strong economic performance in recent years, led by the demand in commodities from emerging countries such as China. The continent recovered fairly quickly from the global recession of 2008-09 and there has since been a boom in inter-regional travel.

Venezuela’s tourism industry has grown within this but it cannot compare to its other South American neighbours. The country is up against much bigger and better-known destinations such as Brazil, Argentina and Chile, which compete for the tourism dollar, and thanks to a government whose focus is on financing a ‘Bolivarian Revolution’, the country’s income from tourism remain fairly low. In 2010, revenues from domestic and international tourism reached just over US$16 billion (compared to US$13 billion in 2006) – a fraction of the foreign exchange earned by Venezuela’s oil industry (US$62.3 billion in 2010).

This report looks at the following aspects of Venezuela's travel and tourism market:

Tourist arrivals - overnights and expenditure

Purpose of visit - business, leisure or VFR

Accommodation supply - operating performance

Tourism policy - management

Transport - access and infrastructure

Tourism funding - promotion and future development