The bombing of a beach hotel at Mombasa and the closure of the British commission in Nairobi this week has failed to deter British visitors from flying to Kenya.

Travel companies reported few cancellations this week either for beach holidays or for up-country safaris. And bookings to south-east Asia after the Bali bombing and a Foreign Office warning of a threat to Britons in Phuket were said to be slow but steady.

Jake Grieves-Cook, managing director of Gamewatchers Safaris, and chairman of the Kenya Tourism Federation, visited Mombasa this week. "There were lots of overseas tourists continuing their holidays on the beaches and in the hotels," he said. "The mood was that the loss of innocent lives was appalling but people did not feel threatened in Kenya or anxious about their personal safety."

Francis Torrilla, product director of Kuoni, Britain's largest long-haul travel company, said: "We have had lots of calls, and four clients deferred their holidays until the new year, but people are still travelling to Kenya."

Ash Sofat, chief executive of Somak, said that just 18 of the 9,000 passengers booked to Kenya over the next year have cancelled or deferred trips since the bombing. "We have had an encouraging number of calls this week. Our first call on the morning of the bombing was for a safari in Kenya with a beach extension to Mombasa.

"I am obviously concerned but I am optimistic. Historically, Kenya has always bounced back. Bookings were back to normal within four months of September 11, and the 1998 bombings of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania had no effect on European travel. The facts around the Mombasa bombing suggest it was targeted towards Israeli interests."

The run-up to Christmas is traditionally a quiet period for holiday bookings, but Torrilla described it this week as "no quieter than usual". He said: "January and February will be the telling time for bookings. There has been no sign of a shift away from south-east Asia. We had one cancellation after the warning about Phuket but people are still travelling to Thailand."

Simon Tobin, managing director of Explore Worldwide, said: "We are not seeing any lapse in demand for Kenya or south-east Asia. Adventure travellers are resilient people and won't be put off travelling. We are 40% ahead of last year."

The gloomiest note was struck by Tony Champion, managing director of Magic of the Orient, which specialises in travel to Asia. "There is a general nervousness about travelling which has been reinforced by the Kenyan bombing. The impact of Bali has been more significant to us than September 11. People are still travelling and the crucial test will be January. My feeling is that they will continue travelling to south-east Asia."

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is still advising against all travel to Bali and Indonesia, and travel companies recommend not travelling there. Operators are allowing passengers to cancel bookings up to the end of the year but this will be reviewed next week and FCO advice remains the guiding factor.

The FCO also continues to warn of "an increased threat" to British nationals in popular tourist areas of Thailand, and the island of Phuket in particular. "Vigilance" is advised, it says, in Kenya because of "an increased terrorist threat".