By Peter Woodman, PA Travel Correspondent

The tsunami tragedy could turn into a “double disaster” if future travel advice is not handled carefully, a world tourism chief said today.

National governments must draft travel advisories in a responsible manner, added World Tourism Organisation (WTO) secretary-general Francesco Frangialli.

He said poorly conceived advice could result in “a double disaster for the countries involved”.

First there would be the natural disaster and then “the added disaster of misperception causing tourists to avoid these destinations”.

Mr Frangialli said that travel advice had to take into account the fact that the disaster only affected pockets of a wide area. Warnings about travelling should be altered once the situation improved, he added.

He said it was wrong to say that the Thailand resort of Phuket had “gone”, as the majority of hotels there were unaffected.

Tourism Chief Warns of 'Double Disaster' , continued