Violence is sure to rock tourism industry; travel plans cancelled.

Los Angeles' $2 billion tourism industry, already suffering through one of its worst periods ever, was sent reeling again by last week's violent turmoil following the Rodney King trial verdict.

Most industry representatives were expecting cancellations, and many were busy fielding questions from worried travelers concerned about the safety and advisability of visiting Los Angeles.

Like it was when the Rodney King video was flashed around the world 14 months ago, the already deteriorating image of Los Angeles has been further tarnished, perhaps for years, said some industry officials.

However, most officials said they hoped the turmoil would be short-lived and that the industry would not be irreversibly hurt.

But just in the first 18 hours of the riots, the immediate effects on tourism were being felt:

* Japan Air Lines said between 10 percent and 15 percent of its passengers on two incoming flights from Tokyo had canceled their travel plans.

* Hotels throughout Los Angeles County had received cancellations from groups planning dinners or meetings at their properties.

* Events like a Dodger baseball game and a Clipper basketball game had been postponed, as well as theater productions.

* Arriving flights at Los Angeles International Airport had been reduced from 1,900 a day to 1,680 a day because of smoke from fires. There were also unconfirmed reports that some airlines had canceled flights into LAX. Other flights were being diverted to neighboring airports.

* Large groups from around the country were reconsidering their decision to hold major conventions in Los Angeles.

* Tour groups from around the world planning visits to Los Angeles called hotels and local visitors bureaus about the safety of coming to the city.

The Los Angeles Convention & Visitors Bureau was being flooded with calls from individuals and groups, said Michael Collins, vice president of public affairs.

"What we've been doing is acting as a clearing house for the whole industry," he said. "We're getting a lot of calls from a lot of people who want to vent their frustration about the verdict in the King trial. There are a lot of very angry people. All we can do know is hope it doesn't translate into people not coming to Los Angeles."

The Los Angeles County tourism industry has been in a tailspin for two years, with hotel occupancy in the low 60 percent range, well below the break-even point of about 66 percent or 67 percent. In addition to the recession, the industry has been hurt by the lack of major convention business, which was expected to be remedied by the current $500 million expansion of the downtown Convention Center.

One of the primary concerns of the industry is what effect the riots would have on future convention bookings.

"This city was just re-emerging into a national meetings market and people were starting to think in terms of Los Angeles as a convention site," said Collins. "I don't think that effort is going to be disemboweled but there is no question that it's going to be affected."

At the Westin Bonaventure, a major hotel in downtown Los Angeles, the site of early rioting and demonstrating, there had been some cancellations for meetings, said managing director James Simkins. He said in the first full day of the rioting, the hotel had lost between $20,000 and $25,000 in revenues because of canceled events.

The Westin, like most other Los Angeles County hotels, is having financial problems because of the recession and drop in bookings and is currently operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Simkins, like many other tourism officials, said long-term negative affects could be minimized by the city taking quick and aggressive action to counteract the pictures of rioters, looters and fires that have been flashed on television screens around the world.

"It's really imperative now that the city act. The longer it lasts the harder it's going to be to come back," he said.

Many officials said the Los Angeles convention bureau must now move quickly on a plan to launch a new international promotion and advertising campaign to attract visitors to the city.

At the Biltmore Hotel, a landmark downtown property, there had also been cancellations and numerous calls from individuals and groups around the country inquiring about events in Los Angeles. A hotel spokeswoman said hotel officials were "worried" about potential industry losses.

In recent years Los Angeles has been a prime vacation destination for visitors from the Orient. This week in Japan is what is called Golden Week, a major vacation period for the Japanese. Many local tourism officials were concerned about a flood of cancellations during this popular vacation time.

A spokesman for Japan Air Lines said the carrier had received cancellations on flights to Los Angeles.

There was also concern among industry officials about inbound travel from South Korea. Because of a recent shooting involving a Korean grocer and a black youth, there were early reports that Koreans were being targeted in the riots.