Egypt+economy+awaits+its+lost+tourists

The Washington Post : [] Date: February 15, 2011 · **Summary**: Recently in Egypt, there had been riots and protests all over the country. Many governments, such as the French and the German, have warned their citizens not to go to Egypt because of the social unrest. This causes an economy crisis in Egypt considering that tourism makes up 11% of Egypt’s national income. Currently, there are many empty hotels, and unemployment is gradually increasing. Some people estimate that the financial cost of the crisis is around $310 million a day, and the Central Bank said tourism could “take a hit of up to $1.5 billion”. However, many Russian tourists are not afraid of the protests and still continue their vacations in Egypt. Since these Russian tourists make up 1.5 million of Sharm el-Sheikh's 4 million annual tourists, Egypt has not completely lost all of its tourists.
 * Egypt Economy Awaits its Lost Tourists**

· **Vocabulary**: o Supply- The willingness and ability of producers to produce a quantity of a good or service at a given price in a given period of time. o Demand- Quantity of a good or service that consumers are willing and able to purchase at a given prince in a given time period. o Law of Demand- The law states that as the price of a produce falls, the quantity demanded of the product will usually increase, ceteris paribus o Taste- a determinant of demand, which is a factor that determines demand and lead to an actual shift of the demand curve to the right or the left. o Economic Growth- Measure of the increase in economic activity. o National income- The value of all the goods and services produced in an economy in a given time period. o Utility- A measure of usefulness and pleasure. o Equilibrium price- Price at which the supply of goods equals demand.

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**Evaluation:** I think that the writer of this article is correct. Since 11% percent of Egypt’s national economy is made up of tourisms, the loss of tourists will cause shut downs in airlines, and hotels. There will be unemployment, financial losses, and Egypt’s economy will be damaged. The protests cause foreign governments to drive away tourists to Egypt. This changes people’s taste for traveling to Egypt because they are scared that it would be dangerous. Thus, in the market of tourist related industries, eg. Hotels, the demand curve will shift left, causing prices to go down and excess demands (rooms). According to Abdel Fatah El Assy, the local tourism minister, at this time of the year, hotels are usually occupied 65 to 70 percent. However, right now, it is only 14 percent. And also, over 70,000 people in tourist-related businesses in Sharm el-Sheikh have already lost their jobs. I think that if the government does not promote any actions or changes, the unemployment rate will increase, and further damage Egypt’s economy. Some possible actions that the Egyptian government can do are advertising foreign tourists to come to Egypt, or subsiding tourist related industries.