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Hitwise UK reveals impact of terror alert on web searches
Online searches for flights to New York plummeted 56% in the week following the foiled terror plot.
According to the latest figures compiled by Hitwise UK, flights to New York fell from the fifth most popular search to 10th position.
Searches for flights to Australia, Tenerife and Turkey all increased, although Hitwise analysts said Australia searches were probably buoyed by anticipation of the Ashes tour.
Visits to travel agencies websites fell 17% and to travel destinations and accommodation by 10%.
Visits to transport sites were up 9% and to airline sites up 19%, due to people looking for updated flight information rather than making bookings, according to Hitwise.
The figures compare the week ending August 5 with the week ending August 19. The comparison is done to the week before to provide a more accurate measure of change, since visits increased to travel websites in the immediate aftermath of the security alert.
The top 10 sites in the travel agencies and destinations and accommodation categories all experienced a decline in market share last week compared with two weeks prior.
Thomson Fly, BMI Baby and Flybe all saw their market share of visits decline over the past two weeks, by 10%, 5% and 14% respectively.
British Airways, Ryanair and BAA all saw the highest percentage growth among the top 10, at 17%, 13%, and 203% respectively.
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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