MANILA, Philippines?The local air travel sector?s recovery from several crises has been put in jeopardy by the recent hostage-taking incident in Manila that ended in the tragic death of several tourists from Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region?s government earlier issued a travel advisory urging its residents to avoid travelling to the Philippines, which the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) said might just be the beginning of the negative emotional outburst toward the Philippines.

?We cannot discount the effects of the recent hostage-taking incident on the industry,? CAB Executive Director Carmelo Arcilla said in a recent interview.

Before the hostage-taking, Arcilla said the government expected the local and international air travel to post a 10-percent growth this year. This should mark the industry?s rebound from a slump inflicted by several crises in the last two years including the outbreak of Avian influenza, a global recession and the breakdown of Manila airports? navigation equipment.

However, the recent incident may hurt the industry?s recovery.

?Whether it?s elation or distress, people usually have an emotional set point. Of course, there will be an outburst that may affect the decision of tourists to go to the Philippines,? he said.

?I don?t remember any incident like this in the Philippines, so we still don?t know exactly how it will affect the industry,? Arcilla said.

He said, however, that the effects on the industry of the hostage-taking incident would likely be just temporary, with tourists expected to return to the Philippines as soon as heated emotions cool down.

?Nonetheless, it will be very important for the government to show that it is serious about correcting the defects in the handling of the crisis by the police,? he said.

Latest government data showed international air passenger traffic to and from the Philippines grew 9.6 percent in the January to March from the level in the same three months last year.

Second quarter figures have yet to be released.