Travelers have started cancelling their trips to Africa due to the Ebola virus outbreak. The tourists don't want to take the chance of infection, even in places with no reported cases that are thousands of miles away from the infected region.
The tourism industry for the entire continent has suffered since the virus outbreak in West Africa, according to The Wall Street Journal. Government tourist boards and trade associations, some as far away as Kenya and South Africa, have reported "anxious phone calls, fewer bookings and abrupt cancellations."
"'Ebola is in Africa.' That is what they're saying," Barry Hunter told The Wall Street Journal.
The chief executive of South Africa's ERM Tours had a Thai insurance company cancel a trip to Cape Town for 1,500 people. He tried to explain that South Africa had no Ebola cases and Cape Town was more than 5,000 miles away from West Africa, but the insurance company still cancelled.
"We told them that Europe is actually closer to these countries than South Africa is, but geography didn't help," Hunter said.
ERM Tours run excursions like safaris and corporate retreats. Hunter has lost most of his business from Asian clients, who make up 60 percent of bookings.
African nations, such as Kenya, blocked entry into its country for anyone coming from Sierra Leone, Guinea or Liberia. The ban, which started on Aug. 19, excluded Kenyan citizens and health workers who are part of the effort to contain the Ebola outbreak, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The West Africa travel bans have helped ease fears for clients of the Governor's Camp safari lodges in Kenya and Rwanda, according to its marketing director Justin Grammaticas. Korean airlines canceling their flights into Kenya due to Ebola fears has not helped its business, though.
"That is one of our new markets," said Grammaticas.
In Northern Africa, Egypt's tourism sector has also suffered due to two revolutions in the last four years. The country had about 14.5 million tourists in 2010 before the first revolution in January 2011, according to the Guardian. It dropped significantly to 9.5 million in 2013.
Those willing to ignore the travel warnings have found reasonable prices for five-star hotels. They also haven't had to fight the crowds at top tourist destinations, such as the Pyramids of Giza.
