A plague of bedbugs hitting New York has now become so bad that tourists are cancelling holidays.

Some travellers say they are worried about staying in hotels and visiting attractions as new reports of bedbugs seem to pop up every few days.

And officials in Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration are concerned about the effect on the city’s image and 30 billion dollar tourism industry.

The discoveries of pests at high-profile places are often not full-blown infestations, or even in public areas. Bloomingdale’s reported finding exactly one bug in the famous department store, the Empire State Building had them in the basement and Lincoln Centre’s were in a dressing room.

But those reports, along with bedbug discoveries in cinemas, hotels and clothing chain stores, are causing travellers to call off trips planned months ago.

Industry professionals – who have privately told city officials that they are nervous about bedbugs hurting New York’s reputation – say publicly that they are not aware of any bedbug-related cancellations. But several would-be tourists said they were aborting their trips because they fear the bugs.

“It sounds like you can get them anywhere, any time of day and not know it until you get home,” said Patty Majerik, from Baltimore.

She said she may not travel to Manhattan next month with her children, aged seven and 10, as they do every year to Christmas shop.

“I’ve got four people travelling on a train, in cabs, going to stores and theatres, and they could be in any of these places? I hate to say it, but I doubt we’re going to come this time,” she said.

Suzanne Baldwin said she was forfeiting money spent on reservations for a November trip to New York from her home in Florida. She had already grown accustomed to checking hotel rooms for bedbugs – and has done so in New York before – but she is now overwhelmed at the idea that the bugs have spread beyond hotels.

“We thought long and hard about this trip,” she said. “However, we decided, knowing we would lose quite a bit of money from non-refundable tickets, it was not worth the worry.”