Sep. 19--From empty hotel rooms to canceled conventions to silent telephones at travel agencies, the economic losses from last week's terrorist attacks on the East Coast are mounting in one of Tucson's most important industries. 

Most airlines have resumed normal schedules from Tucson International Airport. But many would-be travelers are opting to stay home, threatening to cripple the area's $1.8 billion-a-year tourism industry -- at least in the short term. 

As of Tuesday, local hoteliers had tallied more than $10 million in canceled room and meeting reservations, tourism officials said. Usually busy resort properties were nearly empty, with occupancy rates as low as 4 percent. 

About one-third of leisure travelers scheduled to arrive at the area's largest hotels and resorts have canceled their reservations through mid-October, said Richard Vaughan, a vice president with the Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau. More than 50 groups have canceled upcoming meetings and conferences here, Vaughan said. 

"It's difficult to determine the long-term effects," Vaughan said. "We will be suffering short-term." 

Up to half of the groups that canceled meetings may reschedule their trips later this year or early next year as the fear and shock over last week's attacks subside, officials said. 

That possibility is where local tourism executives are hanging their hopes. 

"It's been very, very difficult," said Ken Sliwa, general manager of the Radisson City Center, 181 W. Broadway. "It's almost been a double-whammy after coming out of a slow summer season." 

Local tourism officials believe leisure and group travelers have canceled plans to Tucson and across the nation because of flight schedule uncertainty. Others are waiting to see if it is safe to fly. Some companies, scheduled for group business in Tucson, had offices in the World Trade Center, which was hit last week by two hijacked airplanes. 

The Sheraton El Conquistador Resort & Country Club in Oro Valley has lost the business of seven groups, said John Fuller, the resort's general manager. On Tuesday, 4 percent of the resort's 428 rooms were filled -- that compares with nearly 75 percent normal occupancy at this time of year. 

"It pretty much wiped out our September," Fuller said. "The rest of the year, it's going to be difficult to book business. Our salespeople continue to call clients. They're getting the same reaction: `Call back in three to four months.' " 

Travel agencies across the city said airline, tour and cruise business has dropped off markedly since the Sept. 11 attacks. 

"Retail has dropped to never-seen-before lows and is slowly inching its way back," said Peter Evans, president and owner of a corporate travel company called World Travel BTI as well as Bon Voyage Travel, which has nine travel agency offices in the state. "We're seeing people willing to book out in advance and carefully selecting destinations." 

There isn't much to do to reverse the troubling trend but wait, tourism executives said. 

A glitzy marketing campaign to lure back tourists may be deemed in bad taste. Instead, hotel sales offices, travel agencies and convention planners simply are working with businesses that want to change their plans -- and waiting for things to get better. 

"Companies are trying to get back to normalcy," said Kimberly Sundt, spokeswoman for Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in the Foothills. 

Many hotels are considering going after local and regional business, which requires less air travel. 

Local travel agents also are working the phones to reassure clients about their travel plans and help them reschedule. 

Travel agents at Travel 1's eight Tucson locations are calling hundreds of clients scheduled to travel in the next three months to offer travel suggestions and to inform them that the agency is monitoring flight, tour and cruise schedules for customers, said Joy Olm-Trujillo, executive vice president of the agency. 

While several travel agencies fear the decline in travelers may force them to fold their companies, others are resolute that their businesses will stay open. 

"We're moving aggressively to see this through as a company for as long as it takes," said Evans, owner of Bon Voyage Travel. 

-----To see more of The Arizona Daily Star, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.azstarnet.com 

(c) 2001, The Arizona Daily Star. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.