Latin America
Related: About this forumBeautiful Venezuela: Tourism with a Social Conscience
By Tamara Pearson
Sunday, May 20, 2012
http://www.zcommunications.org/beautiful-venezuela-tourism-with-a-social-conscience-by-tamara-pearson
"One could argue that there are two types of tourism, and unfortunately the first is much more common than the second. It involves tourists passing through a country or place for a short amount of time in a kind of quick violation of it, taking what they want from it and feeling little need to give much back beyond the money spent. Such tourists stay in hotels beyond the means or dreams of locals, eat supposed local food that the actual locals could never afford, and hop in a taxi or go on a tour to visit the main sites the famous bridge, the giant blue watermelon, the place where some ridiculous star had breakfast, the confusing abstract ball of twisted metal statue in front of some regal building with doors forty times the size of actual human beings pose in front of them for a tonne of repetitive photos they stick up on Facebook. Most will buy some tacky mass produced souvenir, possibly something flogged off as indigenous art; art they dont understand, sold by people who dont make it but do make money from it, while the indigenous people and artists flounder invisibly in the background in a poverty of power. Then the tourists go home without having learnt very much about the country beyond how cheap its coffee is, but having done a good job at snobbing their way around, condescendingly tipping the locals and expecting the country to bow down to their needs just because they come from a different country, most likely a first world one.more .......
The second kind of tourism involves a lot more local dignity, but unfortunately its not very common. A few individuals practice it, but its rarely organised or planned on a larger scale. Venezuelas Bolivarian revolution is getting there though. Were slowly constructing tourism for the development of humanity rather than the development of the bank accounts of a few tasteless business owners. Its contextualised tourism aimed at fomenting community organisation, encouraging environmental and ecological awareness and appreciation, rescuing local culture and collective history, and promoting solidarity and knowledge exchange between countries and regions."
I so want to go to Venezuela.
Bacchus4.0
(6,837 posts)you don't need to read government propaganda to do so. it wasn't much of a stellar assessment of the tourism anyway. the article discusses a few government sponsored projects and activities but says little about actual tourist destinations in Venezuela. No mention of Angel Falls, Canaima, Los Roques, Merida only in passing, Gran Sabana, Orinoco River, Chichiriviche, Tovar, the rest of the Andes,or the coast line.
more from the article:
Then, after passing the Organic Tourism Law in 2008, the ministry and the government came up with the Strategic National Tourist Plan 2009-2013. The plan analysed tourism at a world level, then the situation in Venezuela, and discusses social and community tourism, training, and improving the quality of tourism and its promotion here. It also recognised a number of weaknesses.
Lack of planning for tourist destinations, lack of basic services and infrastructure to support tourism, inadequate use of technology, such as the internet, for promoting tourism, little importance given to cultural traditions, lack of a tourist culture in terms of receiving tourists, and high airport taxes and flight costs to the country were some of the weaknesses it identified. Venezuela also isnt identified as a tourist destination globally, is given a bad image by international private media, and is more expensive than many other Latin American countries.
On the Road
(20,783 posts)Although I don't think the first kind of tourism is really very big there.
Americans stay away because of its depiction in the media. Europeans stay away because if they're going to that part of the world there are higher profiles places like Brazil and the Caribbean.
Tickets from the US used to be about 40% lower than to other parts of South America because of distance and oil subsidies. Internal travel is pretty cheap, too -- those infamous South American buses really enable you to see the countryside. Venezuela has fewer English speakers than a lot of other countries, but that wasn't an insurmountable obstacle.
One of the biggest challenges is actually the variety -- everything from the rain forest to the Caribbean to the Andes. There is no way to do the country in two weeks.
If you're thinking of going and are interested, send a DU mail or just reply to the post. I would be glad to share some photos, travel diary, and thoughts on itinerary.
Judi Lynn
(160,663 posts)Just glance at these fantastic photos of the world's largest:
https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4TSND_enUS411US412&q=Venezuela+teleferico&biw=1168&bih=575&sei=xn--T5OiHqjs6gHo3uVD&tbm=isch
Amazing article, from beginning to end. Thank you, very much. I am lucky to have seen your post.
Bacchus4.0
(6,837 posts)s
ChangoLoa
(2,010 posts)And don't be too scared about reports on criminality. Once you get out of the big cities, you'll find tranquility and untouched beauty