We develop a theory of integrable dispersive deformations of 2+1 dimensional Hamiltonian systems of hydrodynamic type following the scheme proposed by Dubrovin and his collaborators in 1+1 dimensions. Our results show that the multi-dimensional situa
tion is far more rigid, and generic Hamiltonians are not deformable. As an illustration we discuss a particular class of two-component Hamiltonian systems, establishing the triviality of first order deformations and classifying Hamiltonians possessing nontrivial deformations of the second order.
