This week........Ash cloud UK airspace again? Ryanair go for a new look and Google maps threaten smaller businesses

Welcome back to our weekly instalments of all things travel and technology. We hope you enjoy reading our selection of top industry news.

Travel News:

Cruise news-P&O Adonia arrives in Southampton-20th May- The latest addition to the P&O fleet, Adonia sailed to Southampton for the celebrity naming event. The adults only vessel and the smallest of the P&O fleet will be named by Dame Shirley Bassey.

Ash cloud threatens UK again- 23rd May- Travel companies and travellers are holding their breath as it was announced that the Grimsvotn volcano in Iceland had erupted. Experts believe that the ash will be minimal and will not have an effect on air travel. Understandably this is a tense time for travel as the ash cloud last year cost the travel industry billions in compensation and lost revenue.

Technology News:

Ryanair redesign their site- 23rd May- Ryanair has released some new designs of their new site, which will go into effect shortly. The new design, which has been a long time coming, has used red and yellow colours, moving away from the current bold blue. Although this new design isn’t a radical change it is believed that it is more user friendly. You can compare the designs on Tnooz’s article.

Top 10 UK travel sites announced- 21st May- The top 10 travel websites for the week ending the 21st May are as follows: Thomson was the most popular travel agent on the web, with 8.02% of traffic. Easyjet was the most popular airline with 20.81% of traffic. Finally TripAdvisor was on top for destinations and accommodation with 10.54% of traffic. To read up on the full list you can visit Tnooz here.

Google maps room rates feature concerns smaller businesses- 20th May- A new feature on Google Maps which shows a list of selected aggregator ads when a destination is searched has caused some alarm amongst smaller businesses. These ads are chosen by Google, who are working with selected partners who they believe have an ‘extensive inventory and coverage across multiple markets’. This has concerned smaller travel businesses as the ads are only available to selected brands that Google has chosen. The feature will be available to other advertisers in the future but for now only brands such as Expedia and Booking.com will have the opportunity to advertise here.

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