"La enseñanza de las buenas costumbres o hábitos sociales es tan esencial como la instrucción".

Simon Bolivar.

The other day, I was asked by a friend of mine to write an article about my country aimed at British tourists. I was clearly excited about the prospect of my writing such an article and the thought of mining a career in journalism came to mind. Yeah! I was thirsty for success but I knew that success was a journey not a destination. My confidence was up, I was immune to fear so I began to write out the introduction. My first consideration was to write about baseball in Venezuela and all that jazz but I realised that I needed to emcompass the tourist industry and relevant issues so that it could fulfill the purpose of my writing the article and the delineation of the items in it which would be purposely aimed at British holiday makers going to Venezuela and help them to make the most of their trip. It is a fact that a country which wants to develop its tourist trade must back up its efforts by advertising abroad. That would be my first contribution to the world of advertising and it is also my first recommendation to the tourist industry as a whole.Venezuela's contemporary state of affairs has been solidly influenced by oil revenues which has turned the country into one of the most industrialised and wealthy nations in Latin America. Venezuela is also known for their world famous baseball players, such as Alejandro Carrasquel, Alfonzo "Chico" Carrasquel, Luis Aparicio, Enzo Hernandez, David Conception, Tony Armas, Cesar Tovar, Victor Davalillo, Roberto Marcano, Camaleon Garcia, Oswaldo Guillen and Johan Santana. In fact, between 1939 and 2007, 199 baseball players born in Venezuela played baseball in the Majors. Indeed, baseball is the national game of Venezuela. Deep in the countryside, Venezuela has large areas of unspoilt beauty and I can assure you that the variety of landscapes will not fail to impress anyone. It vaunts snow-capped peaks and chains of mountains along the Andes and the Caribbean coast line rising up to over 2500 metres above sea level. The southern part of Venezuela is clutched tightly by the Amazon and its wilderness where one will find the highest waterfall in the world (Angel Falls). Rivers, plains and savannahs in the heart of the country are anglers' paradise on earth. The Orinoco river is perfect for holidays and pageantry in Venezuela tends to go down well with tourists. Caracas, the capital of the country, has everything a tourist could want. You name it, Caracas has it and it does not suffer from sky high prices. Caracas is never boring. There is always something going on and its main attractions are set out in most guide books. My wife, Sally, fell in love with the Venezuelan countryside at first sight. Venezuela extends a welcome to all tourists to discover its landscapes, mountains, rivers, cities and its people. It will be an enjoyable experience. It is worth a visit.

P.Figueras