Tour operators in the Okavango Delta have reported an improvement in visitor bookings as the industry recovers from a decline that followed the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa last year.

Rachel Mbulawa, Marketing Manager of Savuti, Khwai Linyanti (SKL) group of camps told Tourism Update that they are fully booked from July-October 2016. “We continue to receive booking enquiries for our camps in the Okavango Delta but we just don’t have space.” She explained that visitors from Germany dominate SKL bookings, adding that other leading visitors are from Scandinavian countries and Spain. According to Mbulawa there is a shift in tourism consumer patterns as modern visitors rely on the media to research what destinations to visit. “The Ebola hype in 2014 had impacted visitations seriously but we are recovering from the hysteria.”

Grant Woodrow Wilderness Safaris Botswana MD, said bookings in to their luxury camps in the delta have gone up by 10% from when they were down as a result of Ebola in West Africa.

“We are expecting a bumper year in arrivals this year and the tourism industry is ready to receive the visitors,” said Lily Rakorong, Hospitality and Tourism Association of Botswana CEO. While agreeing that end of the Ebola outbreak has had a direct impact on the improvement, Rakorong adds that the Okavango’s nomination as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014 was good news for marketing the Delta. She added that the selection of Botswana’s by Lonely Planet as the 2016’s best destination to visit also contributed.