By Ayanjit Sen BBC correspondent in Delhi

The government says the effect on tourism will be short-lived

Tourism industry representatives say some 50% of visitors have cancelled planned trips to India.

The war has come at a bad time for the industry which is still struggling to recover from the aftermath of the 11 September attacks as well as last year's stand-off between India and Pakistan.

At least 2.5 million tourists are estimated to visit India each year.

Plans cancelled

Manjit Singh and her daughter have been sprucing up their house in the Indian capital, Delhi.

US tourists bathe in the Ganges Though it is just the beginning of the war, it has already had a considerable effect Adi Katgara Travel Corporation of India

They were expecting their friends who were scheduled to arrive in India from the United States.

But a phone call on Thursday did not turn out to be a happy one.

Their friends had decided to put off their visit following the Iraq war.

"They were supposed to come to India after 11 years," Mrs Singh said.

Potential tourists like Ms Manjit's friends are avoiding a trip to India now although holiday makers who are already in the country are in no hurry to go back, say Indian tour operators.

The president of the Confederation of Tourism Professionals of India, Subhash Goyal, told the BBC that some 50% of tourist bookings have been cancelled in the past few weeks.

"If the war continues for a few more weeks, the effect will be very bad for our industry," he said.

Adi Katgara, director of leading travel organisation Travel Corporation of India, backed up this view.

"Though it is just the beginning of the war, it has already had a considerable effect on our tourism industry," he said.

Short-term impact

However, all is not lost.

India is a photographer's paradise

Mr Goyal points out that business travellers have not yet begun to opt out of visiting India.

For its part, the Indian Government says the war will have only a limited effect.

Tourism Minister Jagmohan said the effects of the war would be "short-lived".

But not everyone is convinced.

Airline woes

Hoteliers complain that occupancy rates have come down and the war is also beginning to affect the airline industry.

Indian officials say there has been a drastic drop in passengers travelling to the Gulf.

Thousands of Indians travel to the Gulf countries every year seeking employment but the figure has shown a significant drop during the past few weeks.

Instead, state-run Indian Airlines and Air India are on standby to evacuate tens of thousands of Indians from those countries if needed.

Several airlines have also begun scaling back operations.

Kuwait Airways has decided to suspend nine flights to India after a sharp drop in the number of passengers.

In addition, a five per cent fare increase for all international flights operating out of India has led to further problems for the industry.