The Ebola Epidemic: Is it Affecting Africa Tourism?
by Lark Gould /Is the Ebola outbreak enough of a threat to keep clients from considering luxury safaris and adventure tours to East and Southern Africa—even though the epidemic is affecting countries in West Africa?
Travel agents are asking that question and tour operators who specialize in travel to Africa are trying to reassure them.
They say the distance between the virus and the destinations agents are selling is many, many miles – more than 3,000 miles, in fact.
Misguided concerns?
It’s like someone who plans to visit California, being concerned about a flu outbreak in Newfoundland, said one Africa travel specialist from a prominent Philadelphia agency.
The agent, who did not want to be identified, is a former wildlife biologist who has spent many years in Africa.
“I have been telling people that it is much more likely the disease will find its way to the U.S. before it gets to Southern Africa,” the agent said.
“It’s the international cities such as London [that] we need to be concerned about as business travelers head from airports in Africa to fly to Europe and beyond.”
So far only one case has been reported in the U.S.
The man, a Liberian national, entered the U.S. on a tourism visa and is now fighting for his life in a Texas hospital while those with whom he had contact are under surveillance for symptoms.
Few cancellations
Other agents who sell Africa are cautiously monitoring the situation but have yet to see many cancellations due to the Ebola virus.
“We have had one cancellation, but we think that was more about budget concerns, although the client did sound pretty nervous,” said Katie Cadar, an Africa specialist with the TravelStore in Los Angeles, a Signature agency.
“Other than that it has been pretty quiet.”
Agents who do not specialize in Africa but sell the destination are a bit more uncomfortable. They’ve been looking to their tour operator partners for answers.
Tour ops feeling the impact
Some of those tour operators are feeling the effects of the epidemic on their bottom line.
“It is having an impact on new inquiries and new bookings,” said Dave Herbert, owner of Great Safaris, a Glendale, Calif.-based luxury tour operator to Southern and East Africa.
“We would guess new inquiries are off by 20% in September. Ebola is a real serious threat if you are planning to visit the infested areas, but otherwise it should not be an issue.
“We are sending information to travel agents who have [Africa-bound] clients with concerns,” Herbert added. “Still, there is no way of knowing of the clients who have stopped considering Africa for their vacations.”
Reaching out
Some tour operators are taking measures to reach agents and fend off cancellations or postponements so that tourism to Africa does not grind to a halt.
This seems to working for some of them.
“While we have had a few guests postpone their safaris until a later date, overall we have not seen any significant impact on bookings to East or Southern Africa,” said Jean Fawcett, a spokeswoman for Abercrombie & Kent. The company has been operating luxury Africa safaris since 1962.
“Our guests are frequent international travelers who realize that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is thousands of miles from Kenya,” she said.
“We’ve been referring callers with questions to the latest dispatches Centers for Disease Control (CDC) which makes it clear how the disease is transmitted – through personal contact with infected people.”
Micato Safaris, a luxury operator to Kenya and Tanzania said it’s had barely a handful of disruptions: two clients who postponed and three who cancelled.
“Given our volume this is not even a statistical rounding error,” said Micato spokeswoman Emily Baldwin.
A bigger challenge
The bigger problem for A & S Journeys is getting new bookings, said Sheri Fazleabas, president. The company operates tours to ten countries in East and southern Africa as well as Morocco.
Fazleabas has had many conversations recently to calm agents who are reluctant to sell travel to Africa at this time.
“We are seeing nervousness about this and hear from our agents that their clients are opting for other destinations, but we are really not seeing any cancellations for those travelers who are already booked,” Fazleabas said.
“New bookings, however, are definitely being affected,” she added. “Tourism in Kenya has its own challenges, but for now, Ebola isn’t one of them.
“Travel agents are certainly concerned so we are trying to reach these agents and educate them and do what little we can.”
A large continent
So far, the Ebola epidemic has been limited to three countries on the Atlantic coast of West Africa: Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
But nearby Nigeria, Senegal and Ghana are taking a proactive approach to the virus outbreak with various measures that include closing borders and cancelling flights.
“Some of the biggest challenges for us are the perceptions of Africa and its geography,” said Eddie Bergman, executive director for the Africa Travel Association (ATA). The ATA is a New York-based global trade association whose membership includes agents, tour operators, airlines, and African tourism ministers.
Bergman pointed out that Africa is not a country but a very large continent. While the outbreak of Ebola remains restricted [to West Africa], travel to East Africa is affected, he added.
The ATA is preparing for an upcoming congress in Uganda and fielding questions and concerns about Ebola – “and these are from people who know Africa and sell it,” Bergman said.