Tourism-related shares drag down European stocks, Zodiac slumps

* FTSEurofirst 300 index down 1.3 percent

* Tourism-related stocks fall on U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) . travel alert

* Zodiac Aerospace (Paris: FR0000125684 - news) slumps after earnings update

By Atul Prakash

LONDON, Nov 24 (Reuters) - European shares dropped to a one-week low on Tuesday, with disappointing updates from companies such as Zodiac Aerospace and a blow to tourism stocks from a U.S. travel warning putting pressure on the market.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was down 1.3 percent at 1,480.23 points by 0912 GMT after hitting a one-week low. It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) had closed 0.3 percent lower on Monday.

Germany's DAX outperformed the wider market after a survey showed German business morale unexpectedly improved in November but was still down 0.8 percent.

Zodiac (Other OTC: ZODFF - news) shares sank more than 11 percent after the aerospace supplier posted a 44.6 percent drop in core annual earnings following production delays at its troubled aircraft seats division.

Altice (Other OTC: ATSVF - news) dropped 7 percent as Next Alt, Patrick Drahi's personal holding, said it wanted to exercise a right to sell 7.5 percent of Altice's shares.

Sentiment also worsened after Interfax quoted Russia's defence ministry as saying that one of its fighter jets was downed in Syria, apparently after coming under fire from the ground. The Turkish military said it shot down a plane after it was repeatedly warned about violating Turkish airspace.

Traders said the incident was having a negative impact on the markets, although it was hard to quantify.

The STOXX Europe 600 Travel and Leisure index, was the top sectoral decliner in Europe. Its 1.9 percent fall came after the U.S. State Department issued a global alert for Americans planning to travel following deadly militant attacks in France and Mali, citing "increased terrorist threats".

"Investors should stay cautious in the near-term as the threat of terror attacks are spreading to other parts of the world. The U.S. travel alert further highlights investors' caution. These concerns could have a further negative impact on fresh travel bookings," said Koen De Leus, senior economist at KBC, in Brussels.

Travel information firm ForwardKeys said new flight bookings to Paris, one of the world's most visited cities, fell by more than a quarter in the week following attacks there on Nov. 13 that killed 130 people.

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in budget airline easyJet, British Airways owner IAG, InterContinental Hotels Group, cruise operator Carnival (LSE: CCL.L - news) and tour operator TUI were down 1.6 to 4.4 percent.

On the positive side, Volkswagen (Other OTC: VLKAF - news) rose 5 percent after its chief executive said late on Monday that the steps needed to fix about 8.5 million Volkswagen cars in Europe fitted with illegal emissions-control software were technically and financially manageable.

(Editing by Catherine Evans)