Ebola or Fearbola: Wildlife Safari comments
Ebola is a serious disease occurring in the West African countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, where living conditions are the most basic on the planet. This situation and local culture contributes towards its spread among the local population. Ebola is transmitted only by an infected person’s body fluid coming into direct contact with another person. Ebola is not air or water borne and cannot be transmitted by insects, like mosquitoes or spiders.
However, the global media has promoted much of the hysteria leading many to believe Ebola is spreading with the same speed and devastation as the Bubonic plague that swept Europe during the middle ages. Several pharmaceutical companies are rushing vaccines to combat the disease, which has been contained within the three West African countries.
I attended IMEX AMERICA early this month in Las Vegas, selling East Africa & Wildlife Safari as a Conference and Incentive destination to buyers from all over the globe. The ongoing reason many U.S. buyers refused to even consider the destination was "FearEbola", without considering the facts about this disease.
Much of this unjustified fear is a case of geography, or rather the lack of it, as Freetown, Conakry and Monrovia are actually closer to London, Paris and Madrid than Nairobi, Cape Town or Lusaka and while there have been cases of infected persons and even a fatality in the U.S. not a single case has occurred in Eastern or Southern Africa.
I was overcome by the deluge of conflicting media information, claims, counter claims and confusion during my fortnight in the U.S. Potentially infected medical staff took commercial flights, resulting in aircraft being grounded and disinfected several times and crew isolated, cruise ships were refused permission to dock, children kept home from school, and extreme behaviour, including the couple who cancelled their Mexico vacation as they were flying over Dallas, Texas.
All this reminded me of thirty years ago, soon after I opened the Wildlife Safari U.S. office, when HIV-AIDS was the new “plague” originating in Africa and this unknown disease caused the same panic and fear about travel to Africa. In time, the world understood the disease and travel to Africa never looked backwards, helping me build a successful Wildlife Safari.
However, I understand there will be travellers concerned about going on safari in Eastern or Southern Africa, so we have revised our cancellation policy to offer a full credit in the event the World Health Organization declares the designated travel destination with Ebola and hold funds for future travel to December 2016, with the same itinerary, inclusions and the same rate seasonality.
Ebola will be contained and eventually eradicated with the help of science and education, just like the war on HIV-AIDS has progressed over the last thirty years.
Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au
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