Agents Educate Clients on the Realities of Ebola

Generally speaking, travel agents say few travelers have been canceling their travel plans because of fears of Ebola; at least for now. Inquiries about the disease, however, continue to rise, especially for agents who specialize in selling Africa.

Jackie Rush, who has a number of safaris in Kenya, Botswana and South Africa on the books, said she has not yet had any cancellations. “I have just started a honeymoon to Kenya for this coming May,” said Rush, an agent with Frosch in Washington, D.C.

However, Rush said has been fielding a number of client inquiries. “I have advised my clients that the distance from Cape Town, South Africa, and the three countries where there is Ebola are like Washington D.C. to Anchorage, Alaska,” she said.

Although Rush herself has had cancellations, she has nonetheless received information from a handful of safari companies detailing their cancellation policies. “I am suspecting that a lot of people are canceling, which is a sad thing,” Rush said.

For his part, Daniel Achber, an agent with Toronto-based Trufflepig Travel, said he is witnessing a decided softness in new requests. “Now is supposed to be our busiest time for 2015 bookings,” he said. “It’s very quiet.”

Achber, who specializes in Southern and East Africa, said that while he has received some cancellations, more clients are calling to express their concerns about Ebola.

He has been counseling those clients as to the realities of the disease. “They have nothing to be concerned about. My sense of it is there’s no real perspective,” he said, adding that 1.5 million people died of malaria in Africa last year.

“While Ebola is a horrible disease, it’s actually quite difficult to get. You’re at more risk of getting and suffering from malaria and a host of other things than you are from Ebola,” Achber said.

“The places that people would normally travel to for a safari are 100 percent safe. The crisis is serious but it’s being completely overblown.” - Daniel Achber, Trufflepig Travel

Achber is also educating clients on the fact that Ebola is not an Africa-wide problem. “The places that people would normally travel to for a safari are 100 percent safe,” he said. “The crisis is serious but it’s being completely overblown.”

Like Achber, Claire Schoeder has taken it upon herself to educate her clients on the realities of how Ebola is spread. “My rule of thumb is to tell clients what illnesses they’re more likely to get on an airplane,” she said. “I’ll tell them flat out you should be more concerned about Norovirus and the flu. Ebola requires some of the closest personal contact in the world to get.”

Schoeder, an agent at Century Travel in Atlanta, specializes in the U.K. but has booked safaris in the past and is discussing one with clients to Kenya and Tanzania for 2015. Her inquiries, in large part, have been centered on safety issues in regard to flying.

“I’ve been telling clients that I’m leaving next week to go to the U.K. and I’m taking my normal precautions,” she said. Those precautions include cleaning armrests, touch screens and window shades with bacterial wipes. She also scrubs her hands when exiting airplane bathrooms and doesn’t shake hands with fellow passengers.

On land, Schoeder advises clients to travel with hand sanitizer. “You need that for wandering around when you’re out in public and you’re holding onto hand rails and things like that,” she said.

Marcy Kalish, a Travel Experts agent in Mount Kisco, N.Y., said she hasn’t received any inquiries about Ebola and flying but has had to counsel clients on why it is still safe to travel to many parts of Africa.

“I explain that Africa is a Continent and that South Africa and West Africa are miles and miles and miles apart,” she said. “Once clients are educated they feel better. Until you educate people they don’t understand what’s going on.”

Kalish’s clients appear to be heeding her advice. “I’m still booking Africa,” she said. “My people aren’t canceling.”

Source: Travel Pulse