The world's tourist industry must consider the practical effects of so many South-east Asian tourist destinations being destroyed by the Indian Ocean tsunami, a leading expert has warned.
Geoffrey Lipman, special adviser to the secretary-general of the UN World Tourism Organisation, told the annual Tourism Society meeting in London this week that the disaster represented a "paradigm shift from other world events" due to its instant nature, widespread devastation and scale across countries.
But despite this, most industry consultants agree that the tsunami will not have a huge effect on world tourism, as the five hardest-hit areas - Indonesia, the Maldives, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India - represent only 3% of the total world tourism market.
Lipman stressed the importance of helping local communities rebuild their tourist industries in a sustainable manner, as well as providing immediate aid and crisis management.
"There is obviously the impact on people, the victims, the families living with losses, and those lost from the service industry, but there is also the issue of infrastructure, and we need to target aid to support community-based, sustainable tourism," he said.
However, he also reminded the world not to forget Africa, where 30,000 children die daily of starvation and 28 million people suffer from HIV/Aids.