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                   Ebola Fears Slowing Tourist Flow to Africa

   by Reuters

   The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is putting off thousands of tourists
   who had planned trips to Africa this year, especially Asians, including
   to destinations thousands of miles from the nearest infected community
   such as Kenya and South Africa.

   Ebola, a hemorrhagic disease which can kill up to 90 percent of those
   it infects, has claimed more than 1,300 lives this year in the three
   small West African states of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, and also
   has a toehold in Nigeria.

   Although there are no known cases outside of this epicenter, many
   tourists are afraid to travel anywhere on the vast continent because of
   concerns the disease could spread, tour operators in Africa and Asia
   told Reuters on Wednesday.

   The bulk of the cancellations are from Asia, which has had its own
   share of health crises, but visitors from the United States, Brazil and
   Europe have also scrapped their plans or delayed trips, they said.

   A Brazilian business delegation this month also canceled a trip to
   Namibia, in southern Africa.

   "We've seen a huge amount of cancellations from Asia and the groups
   that do travel, the numbers have dropped," said Hannes Boshoff,
   managing director at Johannesburg-based ERM Tours, which organizes
   travel to countries in southern Africa.

   He said around 80 percent of his Asian customers had cancelled trips
   coming up in the next two-three months, including a group booking of
   1,500 Thais worth 12 million rand ($1.12 mln).

   "A lot of consumers just see Africa. They see it as one country ... I
   try and tell people that Europe and America are closer to the Ebola
   outbreak than South Africa," Boshoff said.

   Nearly 10 million visitors came to South Africa in 2013 and tourism
   accounted for more than 10 percent of GDP, with Asian markets the
   fastest growing, according to national statistics.

   ''The [1]World Health Organization declared the West African Ebola
   outbreak a "public health emergency of international concern" on August
   8, triggering global alarm as countries stepped up precautions and
   testing.

   Intense media cover has magnified fears, although no current Ebola
   cases have been confirmed anywhere in the world outside Sierra Leone,
   Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria.

   Two suspected Ebola cases in South Africa this month tested negative
   for the disease.

   The WHO has told the four countries to screen people departing at
   airports, seaports and major land border points and stop any with signs
   of the virus, but has argued against further travel restrictions.
   However, several airlines have canceled services to Liberia, Sierra
   Leone and Guinea.

   ''The disease is spread by direct contact with the bodily fluids of
   infected persons or animals.

   Asian health fears

   Travel agents said Asians, who have lived through the deadly 2002/2003
   SARS epidemic and, more recently, a pandemic of H1N1 flu, do not want
   to take risks.

   "We have dealt with a lot of guests who have literally been begged by
   their families to cancel their trip," said Kim Nixon, managing director
   at Singapore-based Asia to Africa Safaris, adding that most
   cancellations were trips to East Africa.

   "The Asian market dealt a lot with H1N1 as well as SARS so there is a
   great fear of these virulent diseases no matter how easily they are
   spread," said Nixon, adding that 10 percent of his clients had
   cancelled or postponed trips.

   Thompsons Africa said it had also seen the biggest cancellations from
   Asian clients but recently had a luxury group of U.S. travelers
   withdraw, which will cost the South African travel firm 500,000 rand.

   "This sort of thing has momentum and it could get worse as we go into
   the next days and weeks," Thompsons Head of Sales Craig Drysdale said.

   Simon Freemantle, a political economist at Standard Bank, noted that
   Africa's most advanced economy had health services better prepared to
   handle a crisis than most other countries on the continent even if an
   "imported" case were confirmed.

   "But certainly it would be a very unwelcome development in light of the
   summer season coming up, and in our economic environment, one of the
   few areas that has actually been delivering some growth has been
   tourism," Freemantle said.

   He said South Africa's tourism receipts had increased since it hosted
   the 2010 World Cup, a bright spot in a struggling economy that will
   fall short of two percent growth this year.

   Besides tourism, Ebola fears are also hitting business travel and
   investment events in Africa, threatening the continent's image as a
   rising economic star.

   The national tourist agency South Africa Tourism sought to reassure
   travelers.

   "Any contagious disease will have an impact anywhere in the world,
   whether it was happening in Asia or in America it would have been the
   same thing," Thulani Nzima, chief executive of South African Tourism,
   told state television.

   "The message is: come enjoy South Africa, it is definitely Ebola-free,"
   he said.

    (1 U.S. dollar = 10.692 South African rand)
     __________________________________________________________________

   [2]http://www.voanews.com/content/reu-ebola-fears-slowing-tourist-flow-
   to-africa/2422542.html

References

   1. http://www.who.int/en/
   2. http://www.voanews.com/content/reu-ebola-fears-slowing-tourist-flow-to-africa/2422542.html