Africa tourism falls

Tourism operators in Africa’s east, north, and south are reporting big drops in business due to the virus. Hotels in Tanzania have reported a 30% drop in business and 2015 bookings are down 50%, while a South African tourism industry council says 55% of tourism-dependent businesses have suffered a negative impact. Cook Travel in north Africa says tourists have canceled trips to Egypt and Morocco, and Morocco has asked to put off the African Cup of Nations soccer tournament it is scheduled to host in early 2015. A World Bank report says sub-Saharan Africa had a record 33.8 million tourists in 2012. The World Tourism Organization says Africa tourism rose 6% last year and was expected to increase 4%-6% this year, but that’s now unlikely to happen. One extended family from Long Island paid a $20,500 fee to reschedule a $197,000 safari holiday from July 2015 until 2016. Employee at Cook Travel in New York:

People are being a little bit unreasonable—they’re treating Ebola like the modern version of the plague