HONOLULU -- Hawaii tourism officials said they are very worried about the effect of two airlines with Hawaii ties going out of business this week.

It will be a significant hit to Hawaii's visitor industry, at least in the short term.

Angry, frustrated tourists stranded in airports is the not the image the visitor industry wants to portray.

"This is a big deal I mean we have around ten thousand people here in the islands that don't have a way to get home right now so that makes it a very big deal," Hawaii Tourism Authority President Rex Johnson said.

It is a hardship on the stranded passengers, but the loss of ATA could make a major dent in the state's economy. Tourism officials said ATA usually brings about 2,400 passengers a day. That could be a loss of 72,000 seats a month.

Officials said Hawaii should expect a downturn in the visitor industry.

With first Aloha and now ATA closing it might make people shy about visiting Hawaii.

"Not only from a media standpoint, but word of mouth standpoint we are the most isolated landmass on the globe, and it would scare a few travelers if you had to go that far away from home and you couldn't get home," Johnson said.

"If you're going to get stuck somewhere Hawaii is not the worst place to get stuck," traveler Andy Stefanczak said laughing.

Rose and Andy Stefanczak from Massachusetts have a standby return ticket. While they joked about it, they are worried about getting home.

"I told my boss one airline went out of business already. I don't know if I'm going to get home on time. Now with another one going, with my luck I'm going to have to call him and say, 'I'm stuck in Hawaii. It's going to be a few days before I get back,'" Andy Stefanczak said.

Hawaii tourism officials are doing everything they can to find seats for the stranded passengers.