Out of Africa? No, say Indian holiday-makers

Smita and Debashish Basu, a middle-aged couple from Kolkata, have just returned from a week-long vacation in Kenya.

“There were thorough checks at the airports of passengers coming from Western Africa due to the Ebola scare, ,” Smita said.

Ebola, which broke out in Western Africa, has had only a marginal impact on Indian outbound travel to key tourism destinations in the continent, say industry players. However, wildlife safari tours to East and West Africa have dropped.

Recently, South Africa issued a travel ban for all non-South Africans coming from virus-hit Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Kenya too has taken a similar action.

“The overall impact is marginal as very few leisure visitors go to Western Africa. For South Africa, which is a key tourism destination in the continent and attracts niche travellers, we have seen a 5-10 per cent drop in bookings,” said Sharat Dhall, President, Yatra.com.

Travel to Western Africa is mostly for business, and bookings for that have fallen 25 per cent year-on-year, Dhall added.

Hotel company Sarovar, which has two properties in Tanzania and Nairobi, has seen little impact on business travel, according its Senior Vice-President, Sales and Marketing, Pradeep Kalra.

Travel portal Thomas Cook said it has seen no cancellations.

“South Africa has been a strong growth destination for us, and given that the area has not been affected, we have had no cancellations. In fact, our special South Africa Puja Package has been receiving strong response.”

But wildlife safaris to East and West Africa have dropped by nearly 50 per cent, despite this being the migration season for the animals.

“August is a big month for animal migration, but there have been tour cancellations,” Dhall said. Yatra also expects winter travel to be more towards other markets in the fast east, rather than Africa.

A noticeable trend over the past three months has been that many Indian tourists prefer to go east — especially to Australia and New Zealand.

For experiential travel company Sujan, Kenya is an important market with its Elephant Pepper Camp in Masai Mara attracting high-end travellers.

Jaisal Singh, Chief Executive, Sujan, told BusinessLine that “it’s too early to tell about the impact on revenue. We have seen a drop in bookings but hope to make up as much as possible during the season.”

The camp witnessed around 2,500 bookings last year. According to a statement from South Africa Tourism, “No cases of the Ebola virus have been reported in the country, and the Government is confident of the systems and protocols that are in place to address any incidence of the virus.”

Shubhash Patil, Director, Kesari Travels, pointed out that “Indians go to see wildlife migration during the months of July, August and September. This year, there has been a 50 per cent fall in bookings, especially during this period.

“We are suggesting tourists go to South Africa, where there has been no impact of the Ebola virus.’’

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