The lack of government support for the travel industry during the ash crisis was sorely felt, said travel and meetings buyers.
A survey of its members by the Institute of Travel and Meetings (ITM) revealed that 72% of buyers thought the UK government could have done more to assist them.
In particular they called for better planning and clearer communication.
Buyers also reported that suppliers across the board hiked up their prices during the ash crisis, especially hotels.
Paul Tilstone, CEO of ITM, said: "In general the reaction to the crisis was measured and effective, a result of crisis management systems having been finely tuned over the years, but the support of stakeholders outside of the industry appears to be woefully lacking."
The research also focused on how well travel managers coped during the ash crisis, and the level of support they received.
Some 82% of buyers said they found their TMCs provided "somewhat"(56%) or "very" (26%) "strategic and supportive action", but they had had to resort to their own "creative" means to repatriate travellers stranded abroad.
The survey also revealed that one third of travel managers did not have crisis plans in place by the time the ash cloud became major news on April 15.
Colin Goldney, MD of Argate, ITM Research's partner, said: "Clearly the TMC community provided some great support for business travellers and their companies, but there is also an opportunity for them to look at more creative solutions which companies had to create themselves.
"The TMC is in the perfect position to be able to co-ordinate activity between companies and look to chartered services and other resolutions in times of crisis - such support would undoubtedly be welcomed and rightly command a premium as a real value-add."
ITM plans to "better engage with government and the media in the future to provide more effective assistance and communication at times of crisis," said Tilstone, using the team of cross-industry leaders in the newly formed ITM Phoenix Group.