Avavit: Foreign exchange measure limited

Venezuela's travel agencies will benefit from the state-backed measure to extend US dollar quotas for credit cards although the initiative remains limited, news media Cadena Global quoted Elias Rajbe, president of Venezuela's travel and tourism association (Avavit) as saying. The proposed measure is positive but limits the travel agencies role to the sale of airline and service reservations, Rajbe said, adding the credit card initiative does not confront the real problems facing the country's tourist industry. According to Rajbe, Venezuela's travel agencies have witnessed a 70% fall in the sale of tourist packages since the onset of foreign exchange controls. Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez ordered a ban on foreign exchange transactions in February after a two-month-long nationwide strike to depose him fell apart. The country's foreign exchange commission Cadivi was subsequently empowered to allocate scarce foreign currency to priority sectors. The country's government is expected to introduce a new system for foreign exchange transactions this month.