Travel Weekly Blog

As the end of the year approaches, I thought it might be interesting to see which travel industry news stories have pulled in the punters on travelweekly.co.uk.

1. Aircraft collide at Heathrow
2. DfT decides in favour of £1 ATOL levy
3. Airline deal could leave two low-cost carriers, say analysts
4. Flight delays expected as airports increase security measures
5. Travel agents in £500m money laundering scam
6. Stella Group buys Global Travel Group
7. Thomas Cook Group to get Peterborough HQ
8. Government lifts cabin-bag restriction
9. Talks continue on fate of Libra Holidays
10. First Choice shareholders approve TUI merger

It's an interesting mix. Top of the list is an accident, but our readers are no sensationalists: at number two is a solid, need-to-know industry story on the DfT and the £1 ATOL levy.

Disproportionate mainstream media coverage and the potential for more disruption at Heathrow - something of a leitmotif in 2007 - probably helped the collision to number one.

Aviation as a whole looms large. Airport security stories are in fourth and eighth place, while a story about low-costs is at three.

Trade stories reflect consolidation, with TUI/First Choice at 10, Thomas Cook/MyTravel represented at seven and the Stella/Global deal at six.

For the Stella/Global story to be 2007's sixth most read after only a month on the site gives you a good sense of its importance.

There’s also one company-in-trouble story (Libra Holidays, which was eventually rescued) and a crime story at five.

So that’s what our readers have been calling up online this year. Any comments? Or let us know which of this year’s stories were most important for you…

Nathan Midgley, web producer