The American Airlines crash in New York will definitely affect the tourism industry here, the Irish Travel Agents' Association (ITAA) acknowledged last night.
The industry had just begun to regain some of the business lost after the attacks on the World Trade Centre on September 11th, said Mr Fergus Kilkelly, the association's president.
But a more detailed estimation of the crash's effect on the industry will depend on what emerges as the cause of the crash, industry sources agree.
They also acknowledge that the timing of yesterday's tragic crash is unfortunate, coming so soon after September 11th.
Mr Brendan Moran, chief executive of the association, said the industry had "already suffered considerably" after September 11th.
In response to this reduced demand, Mr Moran said there had been a recent recovery mainly due an "aggressive policy from airlines and operators designed to improve consumer confidence".
He said the crash would certainly affect the industry in the short-term.
"People get afraid to fly," said Mr Kilkelly.
He said the industry had already been badly affected by the foot-and-mouth crisis earlier in the year, and had just began to regain business after the terrorist attacks.
A spokesman for Aer Lingus, Mr Declan Conroy, said it was too early to estimate the consumer reaction to the crash, as it is not yet known exactly what happened. However ,the latest crash is further bad news for the airline, which is already struggling with falling passenger volumes.
After September 11th, according to Mr Conroy, the company waited more than three weeks before offering cut-price packages. Some 150,000 bookings were subsequently taken, and 20,000 of these were transatlantic bookings.
The space of time left after the attacks before the bookings were offered helped regain consumer confidence, he said.
Of yesterday's incident, he said it was too early to determine the affect of the crash on the industry.
The international airline industry is already in serious difficulties.
Continental Airlines, the fifth-largest carrier in the US, which flies from Dublin to the US, recently posted a quarterly profit, helped by $243 million in US federal grants aimed at staving off the sharp decline in air travel after September 11th.
Delta, the third-largest US airline, which flies from Dublin to Atlanta, announced lay-offs of up to 13,000 employees and a 15 per cent reduction in flight schedules.
The crash came as the travel industry internationally was desperately seeking to restore confidence in the wake of September 11th.
Just hours before the crash took place, Mr Pierre Jeanniot, director-general of the International Air Transport Association, told a press conference: "Flying today is probably safer than it's ever been. We've got to put September 11 behind us."
Mr Jeanniot said fear of long queues at airports rather than fear of flying was now the main deterrent to travel.
He called for a range of measures including biometric testing, to speed immigration lines.
The Travel Industry Association of America unveiled a $20m advertising campaign featuring President George Bush encouraging Americans to travel again. The television advertisement will also be shown in the UK, Japan and Canada.