Rebecca Carter admits it hasn't been the best start to the year for the tourism industry in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
"We've seen a lot of confusion and worry from travellers and a lot of people who want to know what their options are," she said.
The owner of the Braddon-based travel agency Active Travel said while some people had cancelled their pre-existing trips, the number of cancellations hadn't been as high as first feared.
"Coronavirus is going to have a massive impact on the tourism industry, but I think it will be particularly difficult for Australian travel agencies, particularly following on from the bushfires," Ms Carter said.
"A lot of people have been asking if there's been any involuntary changes with their bookings like suppliers or airlines cancelling.
"It's not an easy time."
Despite the uncertainty of international travel due to coronavirus, Ms Carter said there had been a surge in customers inquiring about heavily discounted airfares offered by airlines in the wake of the outbreak.
"There's been lots of sales coming up with big discounts involved and lots of people coming in and asking about it," she said.
"The key thing is to look at the situation and consider your individual needs and circumstances before you travel."
The downturn in the tourism sector comes as Italy extended lockdown measures to prevent the spread of the virus to the entire country, which will last until early April.
Qantas announced on Tuesday it would slash the number of international flights by almost a quarter for the next six months due to the virus.
Travel bans and restrictions are in place for virus hot spots including China, South Korea and Iran.
A spokesman for Flight Centre said demand was expected to be softer than normal over coming months.
"Naturally, we have seen cancellation particularly to areas that have been significantly impacted like China," the spokesman said.
"People also commonly look to amend their bookings by either postponing or switching to a destination that they consider to be lower risk."
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Travel insurance companies have also reported a surge in inquiries made in recent weeks as a result of coronavirus.
Cover-More said call centres have had a significant increase in call volumes.
The insurer said it did not have an exclusion for claims due to pandemics or disease outbreaks in the majority of cases, while cover was available for medical expenses if a traveller contracted coronavirus abroad.
Insurer 1Cover said it was unlikely claims would be covered if it was coronavirus related.
As more countries record cases of coronavirus, Ms Carter said domestic tourism could be the big winner.
Coming off the back of a campaign to holiday in Australia following the bushfire disaster this summer, she said virus fears could lead to safer holiday options closer to home.
"This year is a good year to support domestic tourism," she said.
Flight Centre said it had also noticed a trend of domestic holiday bookings increasing, however, there had been a drop in overseas visitors coming to Australian shores.
"While some Aussies may choose to holiday closer to home, there's also a negative impact potentially on inbound tourism at the moment," the spokesman said.
"Chinese tourists have, by and large, not been able to travel and they represent a reasonably large slice of the inbound tourism market."
