When ash cloud brought global travel and trade to a standstill, guess who came to the rescue? Yeoh Siew Hoon reports.

Bombs, bugs and now ash – what an extraordinary crisis we've just been through. Global travel and trade brought to a standstill by an eruption of an impossible-to-pronounce (Eyjafjallajoekull) volcano in a country few of us had paid much attention to until the global financial meltdown of last year.

The country went bust and now kaboom – it roars and makes its presence felt across the globe.

The effects were obviously felt most in Europe – millions of travellers stranded, airports closed, airlines grounded, trade disrupted, billions of dollars lost with each day of shutdown.

And now with the settling of the dust, accusations are flying every which way – did the authorities over-react? Was the mathematical model on which decisions were made flawed? Most importantly, who's going to pick up the tab?

Airlines in Asia Pacific were not spared. According to the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA), flights to and from Europe account for around 15% of total passenger revenues for major Asia Pacific carriers.

Andrew Herdman (pictured left) estimated lost revenues as a result of flight cancellations at US$40 million per day. "Asian airlines are also major players in the air freight industry, carrying 40% of global air cargo traffic. The recent disruption has severely impacted the normal flow of 10,000 tonnes a day of high value, time-sensitive, and perishable goods between Asia and Europe."

We feel for the airlines but we also feel for all the travellers who were stranded. I was with a group of Scandinavians at the Rembrandt Hotel in Bangkok. And my first thought was, who pays the bill in such an instance?

It seemed different airlines had different policies – some paid up to a certain day, some weren't even picking up their phones. And when one found out that the others weren't paying while they were, it changed its policies.

What is the responsibility of the hotelier? Eric Hallin, general manager of the Rembrandt, was out and about among his guests, making sure they were comfortable. He was lucky in that SAS was picking up the tab up to a timeline.

What happens if the airline doesn't pick up the bill? Said Hallin, "Then we try to be reasonable and charge normal rates."

In Singapore, however, it seemed to be a case of making hay while the ash rained. According to news reports, 40,000 travellers were reported to be stranded in Singapore and it seems hotels did raise prices after the crisis began, some by 30-50%.

The local newspaper, Today, could not get any official comment from the hotels it called but the article also raised the question of whether Singapore could have done more to help stranded travellers.

It cited a couple of examples. In New York, the city's marketing and tourism organization, NYC & Company, teamed up with more than 30 member hotels to offer a 15% discount on room rates and transport to the airport. In South Africa, Cape Town Tourism had asked the city's hotels and tourism places to post their most generous rates for those stuck in limbo.

Said branding expert, Joe Baladi of BrandAsian, "If the authorities organised, say, 2,000 Singaporeans to open their homes to these travellers to experience Singaporean hospitality, you'll achieve a positive image that is infinitely more powerful than what television ads can do for you.

"You need to think out of the box in situations like these – it has to be done very quickly as an opportunity for a country to shine."

I think those who shine in crises like these however are the more nimble-footed individuals and entrepreneurs who don't need committees to make decisions.

Take the example of a social media company based in Manchester, Web Vitality, which initially set up the Facebook fan page: 'The Volcanic Ash Cloud!' as a humorous exercise.

The page quickly became "a bustling hub of communication between those stranded by the blanket flight cancellations and those charitable individuals able to offer their help to the grounded holidaymakers attempting to make their way home.

"With more than 6,000 fans interacting through the page and more joining every minute, this initially jovial activity has become a full time commitment for Web Vitality's social media team and something of a lifeline for many travellers looking for advice on what to do," said a press release.

"Having already been mentioned on numerous websites, including that of the BBC: 'The Volcanic Ash Cloud!' Facebook page is being supported across Europe, with people offering their spare rooms, arranging contingency travel arrangements and sharing up to the minute information about the impact the volcanic ash cloud is having in areas across the globe."

When I went to the page, The Volcanic Ash Cloud! - www.facebook.com/VolcanicAshCloud, it had almost 9,000 fans.

It shows the power of social media in such a crisis.

Yeoh Siew Hoon, one of Asia's most respected travel editors and commentators, writes a regular column on news, trends and issues in the hospitality industry for 4Hoteliers.com.

Siew Hoon, who has covered the tourism industry in Asia/Pacific for the past 20 years, runs SHY Ventures Pte Ltd. Her other writings can be found at www.thetransitcafe.com. Get your weekly cuppa of news, gossip, humour and opinion at the cafe for travel insiders.

WIT 2010: October 19-22 SUNTEC Singapore ~ www.webintravel.com