African countries at a major world travel exhibition in London last week presented a united front in the battle to woo tourists back to the continent following the Ebola crisis.

One Ebola-hit country – Sierra Leone – pulled out of World Travel Market (WTM), but two other West African countries, Nigeria and Senegal, where the outbreak is deemed to be over, were at the exhibition in London’s Docklands.

It has not stopped people wanting to come to Nigeria

Last year, Senegal welcomed 4,500 UK tourists and the country is hoping this year’s numbers are not too badly hit by the health crisis.

“We have a lot to offer visitors,” said Houma Dia, marketing and communication director of the Senegalese Tourism Promotion Agency.

She flew to London via Paris in a party of 11 for WTM, at which Senegal is exhibiting for the first time in four years.

Another who travelled from West Africa was Bolanle Osute, marketing and communication director for the Keystone Bank Ltd, which is a partner of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation.

“Ebola has not stopped people wanting to come to Nigeria,” she said.

Two other Ebola-suffering countries, Guinea and Liberia, do not take part in WTM.

There has been concern that the crisis could affect not only West African tourism but visitor levels throughout Africa. At WTM Kenya Tourism Board was buoyant about tourism prospects, revealing that the East African country received nearly 150,000 British visitors in 2013.

It added that the first seven months of 2014 saw 72,342 air and sea arrivals from the UK into Kenya.

Last month, the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) said worldwide tourist numbers increased five per cent in the first eight months of this year, with northern Europe one of the highest growth areas.

“Although it is too premature to assess the full impact of the (Ebola) outbreak on the tourism sector, at this point we do not expect a major effect on the sector globally,” said UNWTO secretary general Taleb Rifai.