Q9 - In a mature tourist market

[jezika183]

Can you please explain why D is the correct answer? I narrowed it down to A and D.

If there are only 2 ways for hotel owners to increase profits (1: build more rooms or 2: improve what is there), and if the statement goes on to say that the hotel owners cannot increase their profits, then why is (A) incorrect? (A) says that the hotels are already operating at a near 100% capacity. Doesn't that mean that hotel owners can't expand and therefore can't increase profits?

Thanks!

[theaether]

There are 2 ways to make profits. We know we can't make more rooms or buildings, but what about the other way? We need to eliminate the second option in order to make the conclusion "cannot make a profit in Bellaria" sound.

Operating at full capacity does not exclude the possibility of the second option "improving what is already there." What if we added vending machines to every floor (improving the services for customers) and they generate profits? That would be one way of increasing the hotel's profit while operating at full capacity.

Since we can't build more rooms, and we know that we can't have profits in Bellaria, it must be that we are trying to fill in the blank with something along the lines of "cannot improve what is already there." Choice (D) says that the luxury level is already maximized, which is the same thing as saying we cannot improve what is already there. Can't make profits from either direction now.

[bbirdwell]

I totally agree. Two ways to increase: build more, improve. Can't build more, so.... if we want to increase profit we'll have to improve. Since the conclusion states that we cannot make a profit, we need a choice that eliminates the "improvement" option.

(A) we already knew we couldn't build more anyway
(B) is irrelevant -- site was not part of the argument
(C) same as B
(D) good enough to keep for now - "improving" a hotel and making it "more luxurious" are pretty synonymous.
(E) irrelevant

So the best answer is D.