The truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin is the latest blow for Europe's tourism industry, hitting a city that had been attracting more and more visitors in recent years.
The truck ploughed into a crowd on Monday night enjoying mulled wine and festive food at a popular tourist location in former West Berlin, killing 12 people and injuring 48 in what German authorities said seemed to be a deliberate attack.
The attack was reminiscent of the carnage in the French city of Nice in July when a gunman drove a heavy truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day, killing 86 people and injuring scores.
"Christmas markets are a big attraction for German cities, including Berlin, and this attack will no doubt impact the amount of visitors for the remainder of this year," Wouter Geerts, travel analyst at Euromonitor, said.
The attacks in Nice and Paris last November as well as Brussels in March have already dampened demand for travel to Europe, especially from the United States, China and Japan.
Christmas markets in Berlin stayed shut on Tuesday as the city mourned the victims, while security measures were stepped up at similar events elsewhere in Germany and abroad.
Germany's interior ministry said other Christmas markets and large gatherings would not be called off, and appropriate steps to increase security should be decided at each location.
Michael Krzyzniewski, security a expert for big public events, said safety measures were already in place at Christmas markets though some might want to review them. He said erecting protective concrete barriers was one option.
In Dresden, the tourist information service said authorities had done that around the Striezelmarkt, one of Germany's oldest Christmas markets.
While Germany remains the focal point of Europe's Christmas markets, visitors and shoppers also flock to hundreds elsewhere in Europe, where authorities were also on their guard.
In Italy, Interior Minister Marco Minniti ordered police to reinforce security at Christmas-related events and other crowded public areas.
In France, where the Berlin incident revived memories of a similar attack on Bastille Day in Nice in which 86 people were killed, authorities sought to reassure the public about safety during upcoming festivities, saying security forces were working round the clock.
In Brussels, where Islamist bombers killed 32 people in suicide attacks in March, no additional security measures were implemented. Interior Minister Jan Jambon tweeted on Monday night that security would remain at alert level three out of four.
As the city digests the attack, refugees in Berlin pleaded with their host nation to avoid placing migrants under a blanket of suspicion after police commandos raided their shelter, which had been home to a man arrested over the attack.
"We are of course worried," said Ibrahim Sufi, a 26-year-old Syrian living in Hangar 7 at the former Tempelhof airport now being used to house migrants.
"We are worried about how the German public will view us after this terrorist attack," added Sufi. "My message to the Germans is: 'Don't suspect everybody, don't generalise'."
