The True Effects of the Volcanic Ash Cloud

The recent activity in Iceland has left many individuals, businesses stranded. Many individuals were forced to stay longer on vacation due to the volcanic ash cloud that engulfed most, if not, all of Northern Europe.

For some the volcanic ash cloud created havoc and disruption for others it created an new opportunity

A week on, while most people are getting back to normality, the effects are still ringing in small businesses such as sole traders. According to Boris Johnson, Londons Mayor as many 30,000 overseas visitors arrive by air every day at this time of year, spending £17m in total. This has a detrimental impact on business's cash flow. In particular hotel occupancy was down 25%, and whilst England is renowned for its 5 Star Hotels in the capital, and promoting its heritage, there may be a lot of work to go to overcome this blip in the industry.

Most of what we import today such as flowers from Holland. New Covent Garden Market rely mostly on British blossoms, others, such as foliage salesman Barry Porter, have more than 35% of their business airfreighted in from overseas. Thats alot of business reliant on importing. What does that mean for the british economy? What does a new government suppose we do about it?

In other area's such as Cruising there has been a significant change. Whilst most struggled to get to the skies. Most fled for the Channel Tunnel in a mini dunkirk scenario, whilst the passenger and car ferries were busy ferrying passengers from calais to dover. One story, a fantastic PR excercise, showed by Thomas Cook's Celebrity Eclipise, struck my eye. The ship allowed passengers to travel on the ship free charge and be allowed to have as much cruise experience as possible including food and drink. If the people hadn't herd of the ship before, then they certaintly have now and possibly could reap rewards for the Thomas Cook brand.