CAIRO — p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Helvetica; color: #323333} span.s1 {font-kerning: none} While Egypt’s tourism industry faces troubled times, one lawmaker is thinking of innovative ways to bring in revenue to some of the country’s top destinations. Parliamentarian Mohamed al-Massoud announced July 26 that he had completed a monumental and wide-reaching study on the establishment of a free trade zone in Sharm el-Sheikh. The study, he said, was conducted in accordance with the new law on foreign and local investments, which was issued June 1.

Massoud, a member of parliament's tourism committee, said he would submit his study to the government and Minister of Investment Sahar Nasr, who decides whether cities can become free trade zones.

Sharm el-Sheikh is among the most beautiful tourist attractions in the world, located along the Red Sea, at the point where the Gulf of Suez meets the Gulf of Aqaba. It was ranked the fourth-most beautiful city in the world in 2005 by the BBC and further won the UNESCO Cities for Peace Prize for 2000-2001, along with four other cities.

Massoud’s proposition to make the city a free trade zone sparked different reactions among Egyptians. Supporters believe that Sharm el-Sheikh has the potential to become a key global free trade zone. Opponents believe that other Egyptian cities along the Red Sea could be established as free trade zones, without interfering with Sharm el-Sheikh's tourist industry.