What was a disaster for many thousands of air passengers around the world, created an unexpected boom or bust for the tourism industry, as well as for exporters and importers around the world. Stranded passengers were named “Volcation” tourists, a new and unique tourist category!

Not only did the world’s now most famous volcano create havoc with airline schedules around the world, and those in Europe in particular, but it also prevented dignitaries from attending the Polish Presidential couple’s funeral, and the birthday celebration of Queen Margrethe of Denmark. Actor John Cleese was so desperate to get home from Norway that he rented a taxi from Brussels (having got there by train) at €3 800 to get back to London.

In South Africa the fresh fish industry (hake exporters in the main) lost R1 million and the fresh flower market (mainly proteas, fynbos and chrysanthemums) lost R2,5 million in sales, reports the Cape Argus. Many local authors and book publishers could not get to the London Book Fair, at which they had been booked, which fell into the volcano no-fly period.

Cape Town Tourism was the only tourism authority, as far as we are aware, that appealed to its members to charge reasonable rates to the “grudge” tourists that were stuck in Cape Town. For many, however, it was one of the nicest places in the world for them to have been “stuck” in. Many accommodation establishments gained from the “Volcation” tourists, in that these had to stay in Cape Town for up to 10 days, being disadvantaged by the airlines in having to wait for cancellations to be able to fly back on their booked airline. Those passengers that had booked tickets for just after the opening of the skies were allocated first priority to use their tickets for already-booked flights. Few incoming passengers cancelled due to the volcano, and some arrived later than their original booked date, but were generously accommodated by establishments in this regard. This was a boon to the hospitality industry, given that the last ten days of April had originally looked very quiet in terms of bookings.

Airlines suffered heavy losses, as their insurance cover was uncertain, given that this was an “Act of God”. Their liability towards their passengers was also uncertain, for the same reason. SAA suffered a loss of revenue of R 14 million per day. Ryanair publicly refused to compensate its passengers, other than for the value of the ticket cost, given its low fares. Virgin appears to be compensating its passengers for the accommodation costs.

We are grateful to the Shepley family, Lucy and Graham Cannell, and to Jean and Andrew Lovett for having booked at our Whale Cottages in Camps Bay and Hermanus for their “Volcation”.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com