PHOTO: Places such as Cape Town in South Africa are far from regions affected by Ebola.

Since late summer when a Liberian man arrived in Dallas with a case of Ebola, Americans have turned away from Africa in large numbers, devastating the African travel industry.

The panic has no rational basis. At the time of this writing, one person has died of Ebola in the U.S. Meanwhile, nearly 600,000 die annually from heart disease and another nearly 600,000 from cancer. The annual death rate from chronic lower respiratory diseases is 142,943; from stroke, 128,932; accidents, 126,438; Alzheimer’s disease, 84,974; diabetes, 73,831; influenza and pneumonia, 53,826; nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis, 45,591; and suicide, 39,518.

The World Health Organization estimates that there are between 250,000 and 500,000 deaths globally from flu every year. There are around 30,000 deaths annually from car accidents in the U.S. and three people are killed every hour by guns.

The safari areas of East Africa and Southern Africa are farther from West Africa than is New York. Senegal is closer to New York (3,818 miles) than it is to Nairobi, Kenya, (3,865 miles), Johannesburg, South Africa (4,159 miles) or Cape Town, South Africa (4,100 miles).

Africa is a huge continent, large enough to contain the whole of the U.S., plus Europe, China, India and many other countries. People are less at risk in the East African or Southern African wilderness than they are in an American city.

The Ebola panic makes it clearer than ever that the most important thing for sellers of African safaris is education, to educate yourself so as to better be able to educate your clients about the reality of African geography and what it’s really like in Africa.

Agent@Home asked some of the top safari operators for their advice on how to sell past the panic. It starts, of course, with the most important part of selling Africa: education.

Educate yourself and your clients about Africa.
“Our biggest issue in recent months has been the fact that the media have presented Africa as a single entity,” says Moira Smith, general manager Africa and the Middle East, Goway Travel. “Clients planning trips to Southern or East Africa have the irrational fear that they will be in risk of exposure. The best way to combat this is by educating the traveling public of the realities of how Ebola is transmitted, and the geographical isolation of the affected countries compared to East and South Africa.”

“Those of us who’ve been in the Africa industry for many years have had to sell Africa by first advising clients about how to mitigate their perceived fears and risks,” says Karin Jones, managing director of Anastasia’s Africa. “Years ago, it was dealing with AIDS. [Travelers] have always been worried about crime, snakes and bugs, extreme heat, etc., so education is always part of the sales process.”

“First of all, be educated and prepared for selling safaris,” says Natalie Lee, Africa product manager for SITA World Tours. “SITA offers agents valuable resources for training to become safari experts. Tourism boards of South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania and Morocco also provide online courses. Once you learn about the geography of Africa, you’ll learn that Cape Town, South Africa, is actually farther than London from the outbreak area of Ebola. This will bring you knowledge and confidence in educating your clients [on how] to enjoy a safari safely.”

Experience a safari yourself.
The best way to educate yourself is through the direct experience of a safari. “There are so many smaller details in a safari beyond the great accommodation and the game drives themselves,” says Terry von Guilleaume, president of South African Airways Vacations. “Experiencing it yourself will help you convey the experience to your clients, that is, the time when you are not on a game drive, the pure relaxation aspect of being out in the bush and cut off from the rat race. It helps to justify the price by explaining that it is not just the grand accommodations you are paying for, but the activities included -- two game drives totaling six hours. And the meals are incredible, which is often a pleasant surprise to many first-time safari-goers.”

Point out the moneyback guarantees.
“Many of the suppliers in East and South Africa are offering full refunds in the unlikely event that there is an Ebola outbreak in their region,” say Moira Smith of Goway. African lodges are taking the risk of offering full refunds in the extremely unlikely case that Ebola turns up in their countries.

“I worked with our vendor partners and lodge owners in Africa to come out with proactive Ebola policies, which vary,” says Karin Jones, managing director of Anastasia’s Africa. “Some are offering a full refund if clients were to travel to a country where the WHO declared an outbreak. Others are offering a rebooking policy for future travel. Some are having clients purchase insurance, then having what is not covered by insurance covered by us and the vendors.”

Spread the good news.
“Along the lines of the ALS challenge there is a Facebook challenge doing the rounds,” says Goway’s Smith. “Travel industry stalwarts are encouraged to take a video showing their beautiful Ebola-free surroundings, and post for the world to see.”

Geography, geography, geography.
Just the facts, ma’am. “To put it in perspective, the distance between Sierra Leone, Guinea, Nigeria and Liberia, in West Africa (where the outbreaks are) and Nairobi in Kenya, East Africa is comparable to the distance between New York City and Manaus [3,153 miles] in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon,” says Smith. “There is the whole of the USA, Mexico and Central America in-between.”

“From a geography standpoint, it doesn’t take long to get your bearings,” says Ryan Droegemueller, product manager for Asia, South and East Africa for Globus. “Agents can simply get a map and spend some time reviewing where each of the safari destinations is located and their bordering countries. When they are well informed about Africa’s geography they will have a great baseline understanding of information and facts for their clients if or when an event or incident like Ebola occurs.”

Cite the WHO (World Health Organization).
“The WHO confirms that the risk of a tourist or businessman/woman becoming infected with Ebola virus during a visit to the affected areas and developing the disease after returning is extremely low, even if the visit included travel to the local areas from which primary cases have been reported,” says Smith. “Transmission requires direct contact with blood, secretions, organs or other body fluids of infected living or dead persons or animals, all unlikely exposures for the average traveler.”

Describe the precautions being taken to stop the disease.
“The WHO is also taking stringent measures in asking countries affected by Ebola to conduct exit screenings of people leaving at international airports, seaports and major land crossings in order to prevent the virus from spreading,” says Smith. “The government of Kenya has further decided to temporarily suspend entry into Kenya of passengers traveling from and through the affected West African countries.”

Research on the Internet.
The Internet puts all the information you need to counter the panic within reach of your fingertips. “In this day and age with all of the tools available in addition to the Internet (webinars, Skype, online training, industry summits, TripAdvisor etc.), it’s easier and more convenient to become educated on destinations,” says Carol Austin, adventure travel consultant with Austin Adventures.

Explain the facts on Ebola transmission.
“I encourage my team to stress how difficult it is to contract Ebola,” says Jim Holden, president of African Travel. “Humor is often a good way to get across a point, so I illustrate how hard it is to catch Ebola by saying you first have to find someone who is already displaying all the symptoms of Ebola and then hug them closely for a prolonged period. And even then you might still not get it! We explain the facts to concerned agents and their clients: that Ebola has been around since 1976 and is well known; that every previous outbreak since 1976 has been successfully contained; that the incubation period for Ebola is from two to 21 days during which it is not contagious; that the Ebola virus is not transmitted in the air but only by contact with the bodily fluids of someone already displaying the symptoms; that when someone is contagious they are so sick they would not be moving about in public; that the few unfortunate Americans who have contracted Ebola all got it working directly with those already suffering from Ebola; and lastly that, so far there have been no cases of Ebola during the current outbreak in either East or Southern Africa.”

Use your experience.
Once you have gained some direct experience of African safaris, you can use that experience to lead your clients. “Visit the countries you are interested in promoting and then visit as many camps and lodges as possible relevant to that market,” says Grant Cumings, managing director of Chiawa Camp and Old Mondoro. “Understand the travel logistics and details - the devil is in the details - of getting to and getting the most out of one’s visit. Then prepare a short list of your favorites with some innovative itineraries and value-adds, negotiate the best net rate with the owners, make friends with them if you can, and then get out there and start sharing this with the market place, the Web, of course, and then through as many personal contacts as you can muster. You will have to demonstrate your knowledge, skill, integrity and enthusiasm above all others because it’s a competitive business.”