Shares of major airlines and hotels fell Thursday in the wake of morning rush-hour blasts that rocked the London subway system and tore open a packed double-decker bus, and industry officials said they expect international bookings to be softer than usual in the near term.
At least 40 people were killed and more than 350 wounded in the London explosions.
Shares of AMR Corp., the parent of American Airlines, slipped by 56 cents, or almost 5 percent, to $11.66 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange, where shares of Delta Air Lines Inc. dropped by 18 cents, or 5 percent, to $3.30.
Marriot Internationa Inc.'s stock fell 73 cents, or 1 percent, to $68.10 on the NYSE, while shares of Starwood Resorts and Hotels Worldwide Inc. declined by 87 cents, or 1 percent, to $60.43.
''We don't expect that there will be a major impact on international travel,'' said airline analyst Jim Corridore at Standard & Poor's in New York.
But he said the reaction from investors was to be expected, given their nervousness about terrorism's potential chilling effect on tourism. Barring any follow-up attacks, Corridore said he anticipates shares of airlines, hotels and other tourism-related companies to recover over the next couple of weeks.
''Bookings today will obviously not be good, but I'm sure they'll pick up again,'' he said.
Tour operators said that based on recent experiences with terror attacks - most notably the deadly train bombings in Madrid in March 2004 - would-be travelers hold off on making any plans and that the popularity of trips to the affected region wanes somewhat.
Robin Tauck, the president of Tauck World Discovery, an upscale tour operator based in Westport, Conn., said that trips to Spain have experienced ''a soft period of sales in 2004 and 2005.''
Tauck, which has a group of tourists in London and has other trips planned for later this summer, said no guests have cancelled upcoming trips.
''People are watching the news and making their own decisions,'' Tauck said.
