The knock-on effects of the Ebola crisis are over, according to figures revealed by Ashtons, a tour operator specialising in transfers, tours, safaris and vehicle rental options.

Andrew Iles, CEO of Ashtons, said that, from September 2014 onwards, Ashtons had experienced a steady decline in forward bookings that lasted until December, due to the effects of the Ebola crisis.

“The main result was a drop in actual transfer numbers for January-March 2015. Growth in actual transfer numbers was only seen from April 2015 onwards and from July-October both our forward bookings and actual transfer numbers increased drastically,” said Iles.

October was the first month ever where Ashtons transferred more than 1 000 long-haul clients in one calendar month. The same month also saw the most forward bookings received by the company in a single calendar month. “For the first six months of 2015, the monthly booking average was 836 clients; the monthly average rose to 921 for the period July-September,” said Iles.

Ashtons crossed the threshold of 30 000 transfer clients booked since the 2010 launch of the daily Kruger Shuttle.

October saw 1 031 clients place bookings with Ashtons for transfer between Johannesburg and Hoedspruit, many of them for the period January-March 2016. Most of these bookings preceded the Inter-Ministerial Committee’s October 23 recommendation to make changes to South Africa’s controversial immigration regulations.