The outbreak of the Ebola that took place in the year 2014 brought a blow in several sectors in West Africa, especially to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Although the acute humanitarian emergency around the disease had been in the limelight of all the news the world over, the indirect effects especially to the tourist industry were also considerable. The safari industry is one of the industries that were most affected by the Ebola outbreak as it is a part of the African economy.
The safari sector dominated through wildlife tourism and safaris in East and Southern Africa is a key economic development force, creation of employment and protection of the wild life in most nations in the continent. But the Effect of the Ebola Outbreak on the Safari Industry was poor and its effects on the entire Africa as a tourist destination and on the local economies that rely on tourism profits will remain visible. The outbreak negatively affected the industry in direct and indirect ways as the difficulties including a significant decrease in the number of international visitors to logistical problems hindering the work of tourism. This paper will look at how Ebola crisis impacted safari industry as well as overall economic impacts and recovery operations that occurred after the crisis.
1. Depreciation of International Tourists and Bookings.
The drop in the international inflow of tourists was one of the most visible and immediate effects of the Ebola outbreak on the safari business. The crisis was publicized by the global media accompanied with the wrong impressions about the geographical location of the virus which prompted many would-be tourists to cancel their leisure plans to Africa.
The Ebola outbreak was majorly localized in West Africa, though when it came to the media coverage, people tended to view the whole of the African continent as at risk even though certain countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and Botswana which are popular in terms of safaris were not directly affected in the Ebola outbreak. Nevertheless, because of the overall ignorance and fear of the virus, most tourists were reluctant to get to any other African country, thinking that the virus was widespread across the continent.
This caused an alarming drop in the number of bookings into safaris to the major destinations. Safari operators in East and Southern Africa have given reports that about 50-70% of bookings of some businesses were declined at the peak of the outbreak. Another impact was a ripple effect on the other related industries such as hotels, transport services and restaurants that depended on the safari tourism. Most safari lodges, camps, and tour operators were under heavy financial pressure and some even had to shut down or retrench their employees because of reduced business.
The stigma of traveling to Africa did not end so easily even after the outbreak had been officially contained. Even though the safari industry was not directly affected by the disease, there was the misperception that one was not safe visiting African continent that had made the international tourist arrivals to reduce significantly over the long term.
2. Layoffs and Poverty among the Local Population.
The effects of the Ebola outbreak on the safari industry were not just experienced among foreign tourists, but also among local people who relied on tourism as their livelihood. In the nations where the tourism of safaris is an important economic activity, including Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa, the decline of tourism had extensive effects on the workers in the tourism and hospitality industries.
The safari business has direct workforce employment opportunities with a high variety of employees such as tour guides, wildlife rangers, chefs, drivers, lodge staff, and even local artisans. A huge number of tourists went away, and as a result, most of the safari operators had to downsize their staff or even close their companies and thousands of individuals were left jobless. The tourism industry has led to economic turmoil to local communities that were wholly reliant on this sector, and most were unable to meet their ends.
Other sectors like agriculture and transport too were affected as a knock-on effect of loss of jobs. Safari tourists usually inject money into the economy of local economies in form of food, souvenirs, and other services and goods. As tourist numbers reduced, there was also a decrease in local goods and services consequently increasing the pressure on the locals livelihoods who relied on tourism as a means of income.
In the case of the rural communities bordering safari destinations where in most cases tourism is the only source of money, the loss of the safari tours meant that their chances of having opportunities to grow and develop took a hit. There were no tourists and therefore infrastructure investments, which could have included better roads and schools, was not as encouraged, often relying on the safari-based earnings.
3. Consequence on the Wildlife Protection.
One of the long-term, although extremely important, effects of the Ebola outbreak was the effect it had on the wildlife protection efforts in Africa. The safari sector is a major funder of conservation programs through offering tourism revenue. Tourist funds are used in most of the national parks and wildlife reserves to fund anti-poaching, habitat restoration projects and wildlife monitoring programs. These much needed conservation efforts were impacted as the influx of tourists meant to visit the country dropped during the Ebola crisis.
In other places, the decrease in the tourism revenue has caused the decrease in funding of anti-poaching patrol, and it became harder to save endangered species. In nations where tourism contributes greatly to conservation efforts, the economic burden brought about by Ebola outbreak led to poor protection of some of the most vulnerable animals in Africa, in this case, the elephants, rhinos and lions.
Using the African die-off of elephants as an example, which was already a threatened species due to poaching, residents of the safari tourism industry suffered even further with the decline in the tourism industry. The fact that the animal was unable to sustain their funding options meant that the industry players in the future, the tourism companies that had been involved in funding conservation programs of the elephants, did not have the means of sustaining these actions going forward, something that threatened survival of the species. In others, scarcity of funds caused the reduced resources to monitor and track animals, this developed the difficulty of enforcing effective conservation measures.
In addition, less tourists were visiting the national parks and this implied less education and awareness on wildlife conservation. When tourists visit the parks and reserves in Africa, they usually go back with a new mindset of how vital saving the biodiversity of the continent is. Due to the reduction of visitors when the Ebola outbreak occurred, only a few individuals were exposed to the necessity of wildlife protection and this was a setback in creating awareness to the world on the need to conserve the unique wildlife in Africa.
4. Misinformation and Its Manifestation in the Long-term.
Misinformation and misconception also contrived to amplify the Impact of the Ebola Outbreak on the Safari Industry. Though the affected region was in West Africa, the news on the virus outbreak made the whole African continent seem vulnerable given that the media was highlighting this, something that discouraged tourists even more to travel. There was a perpetuation of stereotypes about Africa by some media houses and they did this by highlighting on the Ebola crisis without differentiating between the affected and the not affected regions. This instilled a lot of fear although some countries such as Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa were not affected by the outbreak.
Besides what was being reported through the media, there were also rumors and other false reports that were going round the social media which were generating panic and deterring tourists into making reservations. These rumors included exaggerated reports about the outbreak of Ebola in well known safari spots to rumors that African safaris were always unsafe. These misleading stories rendered safari operators more difficult in assuring their prospective clients that their holiday would be safe and enjoyable.
Due to this misinformation, safari businesses in countries where the abuse was not a problem had to allocate significant time and money towards damage control. The tourism boards, safari operators and conservation parties tirelessly tried to communicate the truth of the matter and to convince tourists that East and Southern Africa was safe to travel in. This included the media campaign, specific advertisement and direct contacts with the international markets. But given that it was going to be an uphill task in terms of timing before the damage to the reputation of Africa as a safe and stable tourist destination is either repaired or undone in the long run, they were slow to recover.
5. Bounce Back and Strength within the Safari Industry.
The safari industry has demonstrated impressive resilience and determination in its recovery efforts regardless of the numerous challenges that have been caused by the outbreak of Ebola. Although the initial effect was extreme, the future outlook of the industry is far better than that. The industry is regaining, and some of the reasons include the change of global perceptions, more attempts to promote Africa as a safe destination, and also rising demand of the unique, off-the-beaten-path travels.
A large number of tourists who previously feared the outbreak of Ebola is now visiting the Africa national parks and safari locations and especially as more and more people around the world discover the amazing wildlife and beauty of the region. In addition the Ebola epidemic was an eye opener to the tourism industry to innovate and diversify the marketing strategies. The industry also started to focus on smaller and more intimate safari experiences by pointing out the fact that most of the African safari destinations were not hit by the crisis and thus safe to visit.
More so, there has been a resurgence of wildlife conservation activities which had suffered a blow during Ebola outbreak. Tourism has helped to rejuvenate certain conservation programs through funding in most instances as the industry slowly bounces back. Besides, the communities that depend on safari tourism are also enjoying the resurgence of the industry as new employment opportunities are created and more literatures seek goods and services produced locally.
This revival of the safari industry is also due to the efforts by the African governments, conservation groups and safari operators to ensure the ongoing development of responsible tourism practices, and awareness creation of the need to support the local economies. Through resilience and adaptability during adverse times, the safari industry has hence managed to restore its reputation and ensure that the international tourists rebuild their confidence.
Conclusion
The economic viability of local populations and wildlife conservation, which are so critical in the preservation of the African nature heritage, were greatly affected by the Ebola outbreak on the safari industry. The impact of the crisis was so widespread that instead of making tourism-related industries unemployed due to a decrease in international bookings and the interference with important conservation programs, essential conservation efforts have been jeopardized. Nevertheless, the safari industry has come out with resilience, hard work, and teamwork and is on its feet. The safari spots in Africa are now receiving international tourists in large numbers again and the people get the chance to watch the amazing wildlife and nature of the continent. It is a tribute to the might of sustainable tourism and the need to conserve the wildlife of Africa and the local population who have made their livelihood off the local tourism industry.
