VOA标准英语2013--War in Syria Hurts Lebanese Tourism Sector
时间：2019-01-14 作者：英语课 分类：VOA标准英语2013年(三月)
War in Syria Hurts Lebanese Tourism Sector 1
The nickname of the once popular Lebanese mountain town Aley is ‘Arous el Masayif’ - ‘the bride of touristic places.’ But the picturesque 2 village outside Beirut that once attracted many Saudis and other Gulf 3 nation nationals for its quaint 4 atmosphere and cool evening breezes, looks abandoned these days.
Many restaurants are empty. Some have closed down for good.
Maher Abou Hassan, the manager of a restaurant in Aley said, "Before, you needed two to three hours just to get through the main street of Aley. It used to be packed. Now, look. It’s empty. Most of my customers used to be from the Gulf. This year, I had only two from there. And even the Lebanese customers are not coming much."
Abou Hassan’s restaurant, “The Sound of the Oud” - like the streets of his village - also used to be packed, filling all 200 seats every Saturday night. Now he’s lucky if he gets 40 customers.
Abou Hassan had to cut his employees from around 18 to four.
With its beautiful mountains, stunning 6 beaches, Roman ruins and Ottoman architecture, Lebanon’s economy has long leaned on tourism, which accounts for more than a quarter of its gross domestic product. Visitor numbers are down nearly 38 percent from 2010.
But the war in neighboring Syria is just one of the factors, says Lebanon’s Minister of Tourism Fady Abboud.
"We don’t have a road link with the rest of the world because certainly we don’t have a link with Israel, the only link is through Syria and probably I lost about a quarter of a million tourists coming by road to Lebanon, mainly Jordanians, Iranians and certainly from the Gulf," he said.
To entice 7 tourists, the ministry 8 recently offered a promotion 9 of 50 days for 50 percent off. Discounts were offered on airline tickets, hotels and restaurants.
Nizar Khoury is head of the commercial section for Lebanon’s national carrier, Middle East Airlines.
"I regret to tell you that it hasn’t really worked because the reason for the Arab nationals not coming to Beirut is not the price actually; it’s the situation, political and security situation.
So Lebanon is trying to diversify 10 its pool of tourists by reaching out to new audiences from Russia, Latin America and Africa, among other regions.
- The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
- The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。
- You can see the picturesque shores beside the river.在河边你可以看到景色如画的两岸。
- That was a picturesque phrase.那是一个形象化的说法。
- The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
- There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。
- There were many small lanes in the quaint village.在这古香古色的村庄里，有很多小巷。
- They still keep some quaint old customs.他们仍然保留着一些稀奇古怪的旧风俗。
- The morale of the enemy troops is continuously sagging. 敌军的士气不断低落。
- We are sagging south. 我们的船正离开航线向南漂流。
- His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
- The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。
- Nothing will entice the children from television.没有任何东西能把孩子们从电视机前诱开。
- I don't see why the English should want to entice us away from our native land.我不明白，为什英国人要引诱我们离开自己的国土。
- They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
- We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。
- The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
- The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。