Eyjafjallajoekull

Last week it may have looked like an impossibly difficult hand to play at Scrabble. This week, the unpronouncable is the scurge of travellers the world over.

For the most part, you watch the news and it's all stories about things that affect other people. And then slowly you start to realise that some of these world events actually affect things much closer to home.

Fortunately (I think!), we had just flown into Glasgow from Geneva just before the airport was closed. Travelling with young children is hard enough, particularly in the EasyJet chaos of GVA on a busy ski weekend. But just exactly how do you cope when your flight is cancelled? In the first instance, give them chocolate. That keeps them quiet for about 30 seconds. The remnants of an Easter Egg would do the trick.

Just exactly what would we have done with ourselves if we'd had to stay in Argentiere for another week or two? Now let me think about that...

Spot the skier!
The view over the Argentiere Glacier from 3300m -
guaranteed spring skiing at these altitudes.

But the effects are being felt much closer to home. Already, we've received a number of cancellations from customers who were flying as part of their visit to Glencoe. I don't suppose we'd ever really thought about the proportion of guests who use flights as part of their travel, as we'd always thought of ourselves as a road destination. But with Glasgow airport just down the road, and cheap flights in from across Europe, it shouldn't be such a surprise.

Whilst many travellers are still trying to get home, we also know that there's plenty who just aren't going to book a flight until they know more about how long things are going to be affected. So, challenges for tourism again, as we potentially lose on the 'long haul' markets, but look to gain on our domestic market. Life's nothing if not a challenge!