Ebola outbreak continues to impact travel

As the ebola outbreak in Western Africa continues with no signs of slowing down - and the disease spreads outside of the continent - the travel industry is starting to feel the effects.

Last week, federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose announced that targeted temperature screening would take place at Canadian border crossings in an increased effort to keep ebola from entering the country.

According to a statement from the Public Health Agency of Canada, international border crossings to Canada are monitored 24/7, and travellers from affected West African countries are identified and asked about their health. There are no direct flights into Canada from the affected countries in Africa and the government maintains that the risk to Canadians remains ‘very low.’

The U.S. has also stepped up screenings at its border crossings and airports, after Thomas Duncan, a Liberian man, died from the disease last week in a Dallas, Texas hospital. A nurse who had cared for Duncan was officially diagnosed with ebola this past weekend.

According to the World Health Organization, of the approximately 8,000 people that have been infected in the outbreak in Western Africa (including Liberia), around 3,900 have died.

The latest outbreak of the disease has affected a number of cruise itineraries. This week, the Los Angeles Times reported Carnival altered two ports-of-call along the West Africa coastline, while a report in USA Today stated that Holland America, Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Seabourn Cruises had also opted to avoid the area.

Moira Smith, Goway Travel’s General Manager for Africa and the Middle East, told PAX that despite the vast majority of African tourism taking place outside of the Western African region where the ebola outbreak is currently taking place (specifically in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria), the scare of infection has affected travel to the continent and while Smith said that no Goway customers have cancelled their trips for that reason, there has been some diminished interest in the wake of the outbreak.

“We’ve definitely seen a slowdown in bookings,” said Smith, adding that Goway’s African itineraries are not within the affected areas. “It’s an unfortunate situation but the biggest thing for us to do is to educate the travelling public that there are no risks in the destinations that we sell.”

While recognizing that the chance of ebola occurring in Canada is rare, WestJet spokesperson Brie Olgle told PAX that the carrier is continuing to monitor the situation.

“A number of WestJet teams continue to keep a close eye on how the Ebola crisis unfolds, to ensure WestJet has the right procedures in place to keep WestJetters and guests safe,” said Ogle, “and all WestJetters have been encouraged to review the procedures in their respective manuals to ensure they feel confident in following existing safety procedures.”

Dr. Ken Fryatt, WestJet’s medical director, said in a release that “the risk of Ebola virus entering and spreading in Canada is considered to be very low. People who are not showing symptoms and are not in the contagious stage of this disease can’t spread it. It’s is only when they are showing symptoms such as fever, vomiting, fatigue and other flu-like symptoms that they are contagious.”

The World Bank recently created an ‘Ebola Index,’ measuring the outbreak’s potential economic impact in West Africa, with estimates ranging between a best-case scenario of a $100 million US loss for infected countries, to upwards of $33 billion if the situation is not soon brought under control.