Geographical misunderstanding is scarier than Ebola, opines trade. Mimi Hudoyo looks at its impact on travel to Africa
Despite their locations thousands of kilometres away from the Ebola epicentre, tourism in other parts of Africa are reporting fallouts from the outbreak.
Interviewed at ITB Asia, Damian Sadie, general manager, Rovos Rail South Africa, said the train is losing about US$100,000 a week in the last two months as a result of cancellations, which are mostly coming from the US, China and Japan. His company has been trying to educate the markets about the disease and the geography of Africa.
Sadie said: “We have also issued a new cancellation policy where we waive any cancellation fees for travellers from these three countries should they cancel their booking because of a World Health Organization-confirmed Ebola case found in the area.”
Expressing his bewilderment over the cancellations, he added: “It is very strange because travellers taking our (luxury rail) tours are global, well-informed travellers who have been to so many countries.
“It is also strange that we received cancellations from Texas when there are cases in their backyard in Dallas and Houston.”
Likewise, Constance Hotels and Resorts marketing coordinator, Emily Li, shared that the group lost significant business and postponement requests from China at its Mauritius properties since the Ebola outbreak.
“I think it is the lack of awareness of Mauritius’ position in Africa that travellers are afraid to go,” said Li, adding that the hotel group is working with tour operators to educate clients on the real situation.
Meanwhile, Patrick Debus, permanent secretary at World Federation of Consuls, said the association has shifted one of its annual conferences, originally planned for Nigeria next year, to South Africa.
World Travel & Tourism Council president & CEO, David Scowsill, said: “The right reaction is the US, the UK and Scandinavian countries sending in medical personnel into the affected countries; the consumer reaction is what we need to (tackle). There is already a shortfall of people going to Africa from the US and Europe.
“They don’t understand the geography of the continent – the affected parts of Africa are closer to London than Kenya, for example. They are cancelling holidays very unnecessarily.”
Some destinations in Africa, however, claimed they are not feeling the impact of Ebola. Twiga Tours in Kenya managed to contain the damage through preventive actions, said sales and marketing director, Rahim Manji.
“We realise many travellers are lacking in geographical knowledge so as soon as there was the outbreak, (the government and trade associations) in Kenya sent out information on the disease, the affected areas, number of cases and where we are,” he said.
For another player, Le Voyageur, its location on Madagascar, an island on its own, has cushioned it from cancellations, according to managing director, Michael Horn.
Even though Japan is one of the countries that has issued a travel advisory to the affected areas in West Africa, Koichi Anju, sales strategy adviser, H.I.S Japan, also said he did not see any cancellations. His company continues to sell destinations in Africa untouched by the epidemic.
Additional reporting by Paige Lee Pei Qi
This article was first published in TTG Asia, November 14, 2014 issue, on page 3. To read more, please view our digital edition
