The saying "don't let the bed bugs bite" has taken on new significance for Australia's burgeoning backpacker industry, which is facing an epidemic of the bloodsucking insects.

　　The bugs, which can survive for months without feeding and are renowned as hitchhikers, travelling the world hidden in luggage, shoes and clothing, could cost the country's tourism industry tens of millions of pounds after they were found to have infested eight out of 10 backpacker hostels in Sydney's eastern suburbs alone. Many bedsits, particularly at Bondi Beach and Kings Cross, rely almost exclusively on British and Irish customers.

　　Despite bringing in pest controllers to eradicate the bugs, more than half the hostels have reported a fresh outbreak during the recent summer months.

　　So widespread is the problem that the Whitsunday shire council and the north Queensland charter boat industry are developing a strategy to combat the pests at popular resorts.

　　Stephen Doggett, an entomologist at the institute of clinical pathology and medical research at Westmead hospital in Sydney, estimates that the number of bed-bug infestations treated in Sydney has increased by 800 % in the past four years.

　　Mr Doggett says international travellers have been unwittingly carrying them into Australia for the past two decades and they are now proving impervious to pest control measures.

　　While hostel beds remain the most common place for infestations, residential homes are now also under attack. Mr Doggett said he recently found 5,000 bugs in one woman's bed.