But the impact is seen as shorter term than earlier threats, such as the fear of Islamic terrorism, and even though thousands have died many tourists are likely to brush off the tsunamis as a once-off tragedy.

In Japan, Asia's largest source of tourists, the tourist trade feared that travellers would now associate Indian Ocean destinations not with sunny holidays, but mass death.

"The short-term impact of the earthquake is actual damage to accommodation," said Tsuneo Nishiyama, a spokesperson for Japan Travel Bureau, the nation's largest travel agency.

"We are also afraid that a psychological impact on Japanese tourists to the region may last longer than expected," he said.

A particular focus of concern is the Thai beach resorts on Phuket, one of the most popular stops for Asian tourists, where 123 people were killed when the giant waves struck on Sunday.

"No one can predict when and where an earthquake occurs, but once it happens, such places are labelled a disaster area, which is not good for tourism," said Eiko Sato, a spokesperson at Kinki Nippon Tourist Co. Ltd., Japan's second largest travel agency.

Disasters won't stop tourists
But on the Malaysian resort island of Penang, tourists were still seen basking in the sun and sipping cocktails, even as boats continued rescue missions after bringing ashore the bodies of a 70-year-old Westerner and an eight-year-old boy.

"Foreign tourists who are already here may not rush to go back, but the incident could deter others from coming in for a while, at the most for the next one or two months, after which things should go back to normal," said Azrul Azwar, senior economist with the Malaysian financial group MIDF Bhd.

Don Birch, chief executive of regional ticketing service provider Abacus in Singapore, said travellers in Asia typically do not let disasters stop them from visiting their favourite destinations.

"The reality is that people adjust quickly and come back. The last time a tsunami like this occurred was about a hundred years ago," he said. "So it's a very rare event and I think, as sad as it is, people very quickly discount that and move on."

Further quakes?
Robert Khoo, chief executive of the National Association of Travel Agents in Singapore, said the impact of the tsunami would hinge on what news comes from experts on whether a new earthquake is likely to occur.

"Since it was caused by an underground volcanic eruption, and the situation has already come down, it should be a short-term issue," Khoo said.

Tourism had just begun to recover in Asia after the outbreak in 2003 of SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which killed almost 800 people, mostly in Hong Kong and China.

The flow of travel was never allowed to resume to full capacity due to an outbreak in 2004 of bird flu, which killed at least 32 people, and lingering fears of attacks after the 2002 bombings of nightclubs in Bali.

Until the tsunami disaster struck, the number of Japanese holiday travellers to Thailand for the winter holidays was expected to jump 14.7 percent from 39 000 the previous year, according to Japan Travel Bureau, which was not immediately sure about the number of cancellations.

South Korea's two commercial airliners, Korean Air and Asiana Airlines, reported massive cancellations for flights to Phuket. Korean Air officials said the carrier was seriously considering suspending regular flights to Phuket for at least a month.

Roger Hsu, secretary general of Travel Agents Association of Taiwan, foresaw a decline in Taiwanese tourists travelling to Thailand.

"Hit hardest should be Phuket, which drew around 200 000 Taiwanese travellers a year," Hsu said, "But it's hard to say how long the negative impact would sustain, contingent upon the speed of the rehabilitation work there," he said.