Opportunity
In April 2010 Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted with the resulting ashcloud leaving UK airspace closed, hundreds of flights cancelled and thousands of travellers stranded overseas.
With no way of predicting when flights would resume it was becoming clear that the weekend of travel chaos would have a far-reaching impact on British holidaymakers.
Reaction
Spotting an opportunity to react to a fast-moving news story, we rang Cornish Farm Holidays to see if they had experienced an increase in booking enquiries from "volcano refugees", and how much capacity there still was for last minute holidays.
Within the hour we had received over a dozen responses from members, all reporting an increase in enquries with several already having taken bookings.
Working fast
We quickly issued a press release outlining some of the great human interest stories were emerging, including a couple who, faced with the cancellation of a dream holiday to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary, decided instead to come to Cornwall where they originally married.
We also listed some of the great deals available at short notice.
Regional media
ITV Westcountry visited two Cornish Farm Holiday members to gather material for a piece in that day's lead story, providing a positive angle after the tales of traveller disruption and nightmare journeys back from overseas.
The local press picked up the story too, with articles featured in the Western Morning News, West Briton, The Cornishman, The Cornish Guardian and thisisthewestcountry.co.uk
Travel news
And with some experts predicting that eruptions could continue for years to come, the national travel media ran a flurry of pieces on "no fly" holidays leading to more coverage for Cornish Farm Holidays in The Irish Times – and more bookings for CFH members.
Photos: Cornish Farm Holidays
