Stories of the Week

Travel Story of the Week: Ryanair saw July passenger numbers rise by 4% to 9.15 million on the back of a strategy to improve customer service. EasyJet started the summer peak with a 7.7% hike in passenger carryings. Figures for July show that the budget airline flew more than 6.4 million passengers, up from 5.9 million in the same month last year.

Cruise Story of the Week: The final episode of fly-on-the-wall documentary The Cruise Ship was watched by 3.8 million people, according to Princess Cruises. This was the highest viewing figure for an episode during the four-part series, which centred around the senior team on board Royal Princess in its debut season in the Caribbean.

Digital Story of the Week: Search advertising spend up 24% in Europe, with 38% in UK clicks coming from mobile. Quarterly search advertising spend is up by 24% across Europe, with revenue up by 23%, research from Kenshoo has found. The research reveals the total volume of clicks on search ads rose by 11% from Q2 in 2013, while total impressions have fallen by 6% and click through rate is up by 17%.

Launch Story of the Week: Turquoise launches new health and fitness winter sun packages. Turquoise Holidays has created a variety of luxury winter sun holidays for clients seeking to cleanse mind, body and soul in advance of this year’s Christmas period. Packages range from a one-off week’s yoga holiday in the Maldives with a celebrity instructor to Wildfitness holidays in Africa, where guests take part in outdoor fitness activities in “stunning natural locations.”

Cruise Story of the Week: #2: Silversea Cruises is looking at the possibility of adding a new-build to its classic fleet. Speaking at the line’s 20th anniversary gala in London on Monday, the line's chief executive Enzo Visone said no contract had been signed but he was looking at expanding.

Social Story of the Week: EE show social media now accounts for 25% of all 4G data. EE show social media now accounts for 25% of all 4G data. Telecoms provider EE has published the results of a report into the impact of 4G data on the lives of its customers, showing that social media now accounts for a quarter of all network traffic on 4G, a higher proportion than that recorded by 3G.