Business sources said Thursday that South Korea's tourism industry is feeling uneasy about another possible outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, in Asia, following the previous day's confirmed SARS case in Taiwan.

A week ahead of the winter vacation season for middle and high school students, local travel agencies had been anticipating a tourism boom just before the announcement of the latest case of the deadly respiratory disease.

Tour organizers said they have been busy answering inquiries from customers who have already booked Southeast Asian tours about the safety of overseas travel.

An official of Hanatour Service Incorporated reported that fortunately, no one has yet canceled their reservations.

However, the agent said that if SARS spreads in neighboring countries, travel agencies will be not able to avoid large-scale cancellations.

Other agencies predicted their management could run into problems if there is another recurrence of a SARS epidemic, following one earlier this year.

However, some travel agents are confident that they can deal with the specter of a possible SARS crisis by learning from the experience of handling the previous outbreak last spring.