Venezuela's location on the Caribbean coast makes the flight there one of the shortest – and often cheapest – from most parts of Europe and the US. Not that hordes of foreign visitors tend to take advantage of that. Despite packing nearly every natural environment on the continent into a relatively small place – Caribbean beaches, snowcapped mountains, wildlife-rich wetlands, desert, Amazonian jungle, fertile river valley – the country has historically been one of the least-visited in South America; even war-torn Colombia receives five times more tourists annually than Venezuela.

In any case, as the world's fourth largest oil producer, Venezuela has not had a pressing need for additional sources of revenue, and the country has done very little to promote itself abroad. Moreover, until recently its oil wealth translated into extremely high prices, making dining and accommodation rather expensive in comparison with the rest of South America.

However, changes may be on the horizon. President Hugo Chávez has looked to increase development, and falling oil prices have led to a severe currency devaluation in the past several years, making travel within Venezuela considerably less expensive than before. And much is in place already: an extensive highway system makes internal travel easy, while a countrywide guesthouse network provides ample accommodation options. Ironically, many tourists now avoid Venezuela because of the political instability that has accompanied Chávez's rise to power, overthrow and return to power. Although most of the country is safe except for Caracas, international headlines have served as a powerful deterrent to would-be visitors.