"They're having a much harder time accessing information and getting their story out and weaving their way through the bureaucracies in their countries," said Peter de Jong, president of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA).

"They don't always have the expertise and the know-how, the advisory services and consultancies available that large companies have," he told AFP on the sidelines of a World Tourism Organisation (WTO) conference aimed at reviving the industry after the tsunami tragedy that killed more than 283,000 people from Indonesia to East Africa.

"We want to plead their case and ensure that the government agencies assembled here make extraordinary efforts, simply because 90 percent of our industry is composed of small and medium-size enterprises," he said.

The businesses specifically need help with issues such as insurance, land rights and accessing financial assistance, he added.

In a paper presented to representatives from 30 countries and a slew of international agencies, De Jong said that family-run businesses were the industry pioneers who helped establish today's major destinations.

"Before December 26, they created holiday experiences in all eight affected destinations -- and they did it with entrepreneurial courage and zeal.... These are the people who need help now," he said.

Tourism is a vital industry in most of the countries hardest-hit by the disaster, but particularly in Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives.

According to PATA figures, 57 percent of destroyed or damaged hotels in Thailand -- which suffered the highest number of tourist deaths in the disaster -- were ones with fewer than 20 rooms.

PATA called for the industry to show victims how to apply for assistance, encourage the simplification of loan access and debt restructuring, and think creatively to uncover other ways of assisting the victims.

"Sure, we must talk about early warning systems and international promotional campaigns. But let us not forget the local people who actually build the destination, often with their bare hands," De Jong said.

Trade representatives gathering in Madrid for a tourism fair last weekend said they expected the industry in tsunami-affected countries to recover rapidly and predicted strong growth in 2005.