Travel websites under pressure from surge in hits
Travel websites have been put to the test during the heavy snow in the UK, with hits to the Heathrow website up a whopping 167%.
As people started searching for information on flight cancellations and find alternative ways to reach their destinations, online visits to the travel industry as a whole increased by 31.1% between Friday 17 December and Saturday 18.
According to the latest figures from Experian Hitwise, social media was responsible for driving a lot of the information to consumers over the weekend.
Of the top search terms on Sunday 19 December driving traffic to Twitter, two of the top 10 concerned Heathrow airport.
By Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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