Tour Operators say it's too soon to gauge Notre Dame Fire Impact

While an earlier post in the blog assessed how much it would cost to repair the Notre Dame Cathedral, I think it would be interesting to view its effect on the economy in other ways such as tourism. Notre Dame is the most popular destination for tourists in Paris with 30 thousand visitors each day and 13 million each year. While the cathedral is free to visit you can enter the crypt and tower for $6 and $9 respectfully. If 10% of visitors were to visit both this would yield around $16 million dollars in revenue. While it is unclear how long the cathedral will be closed it is easy to see the revenue that will be lost in the meantime.

In an article by Jeri Clausing takes a look at analyzing this impact on tourism. According to a tour director in the article it is too early to tell if the fire will affect the tourism of Paris at large. This is coming a year after Paris cultural attractions saw a 5.9% increase in visitors. The article mainly concluded that Paris has much to offer and it is unclear what effect the fire will have on tourism as a whole. Do you think Notre Dame will have a significant impact on tourism in the region or will Paris not see much of a change while the cathedral is being repaired?

https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Tour-Operators/Tour-operators-too-soon-to-gauge-Notre-Dame-fire-impact

US economy grows by 3.2% in the first quarter, topping expectations

The U.S economy grew at faster rate than expected. First quarter gap expanded by 3.2%. It was the first time since 2015 that first-quarter GDP topped 3%.

Exports rose 3.7% while import decreased by 3.7% in the first quarter. There was also a strong lift in investments in intellectual property products. Disposable personal income increased by 3%, while prices increased by 1.3% when excluding food and energy.

The data was being compared to how the economy was during the longest gov't shutdown. The report helped offset fears of slowing global growth said Alec Young.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/26/gdp-q1-2019-first-read.html

Is Iraq's oil boom in Trouble?

Oil output has doubled over the past decade, putting Iraq to become the world's fourth-largest producer by 2030. They would trail only The US, Saudi Arabia and Russia. However, they are having a hard time finding water sources to produce their oil. This means that their production rates will struggle and continue to struggle if they can't find something to do about it. Iraq would need to produce an additional 3 million barrels a day of water in order to reach their goals.
They already use 5 million barrels of water a day to ensure there's enough pressure in the underground reservoirs to extract the oil and it needs as much as 1.5 barrels of water for every barrel of oil.
However, and more interestingly, they rely on imports from neighboring countries for 70% of the water it consumes and even more frightening, the River levels have fallen by up to 40% in the last 20 years.
What do you think Iraq should do and what can they do? Is there a solution? https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/25/business/iraq-oil-water-shortage/index.html