With less than a year to go before the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games, tourism chiefs are worried that the recent rioting on the streets of the capital might have a detrimental effect. The chaos has already spread to the east of the city where the Olympic Village will be.

The foreign press has been showing images of burning buildings and overseas governments have been issuing warnings to their citizens to be extra vigilant if they plan to travel to the UK. Moskovskie Novosti, a Russian newspaper, has referred to the troubles as a pogrom and Corriere della Sera, a newspaper in Italy, has described the situation as urban guerrilla warfare.

The London tourism authority has said that it is too soon to say how the violence will affect tourist statistics and that it is continuing to keep a close eye on the situation. However, the foreign ministry in Germany has already issued a warning that travellers to Britain should exercise caution. Latvia has told its citizens to avoid visiting certain areas of the UK and Finland, Denmark and Sweden have all said their countrymen should keep a vigilant eye on the media for regular updates.

India’s Lonely Planet editor, Vardhan Kondvikar, Tweeted that anyone planning to travel to the UK this week should rethink their plans as the violence has spread beyond the capital.

London’s official promotional agency, London & Partners, said that although it was too early to judge the outcome in terms of tourism, it was confident that the capital will be able to rebuild its reputation.