Travel brands surged back up the IMRG/ Hitwise Hot Shops List this quarter with Thomson ranking as the best performing travel brand, in tenth place.

Travel Republic was the fastest moving retailer of the quarter, up 18 places to 28th in the list. First Choice returned to the Top 50 after a dip in performance last quarter.

Budget airlines easyJet and Ryanair also climbed the rankings to 11th and 15th place as consumers booked last minute flights abroad.

Expedia.co.uk finished in 14th place ahead of Lastminute which was in 22nd place. Meanwhile The Train Line finished higher than last year in 21st place.

Tina Spooner, Chief Information Officer at IMRG revealed: “During the summer months the travel companies always perform well, although growth for some of them was more modest than last year. Two of them however, The Train Line and TravelRepublic.co.uk, have exceeded the rankings they achieved in summer last year.”

Comparing the current rankings with those of 12 months ago, British Airways, which is up ten places, put in one of the strongest performances in terms of traffic growth.  Meanwhile Travelodge climbed 12 places to 33rd place.

Robin Goad, Director of Research at Experian Hitwise revealed: “Most of the travel brands are ranked lower this quarter compared to the same quarter last year, with notable exceptions being Travel Republic and British Airways.”

The IMRG-Experian Hitwise Hot Shops List of the top 50 UK e-retailers, which is published quarterly and tracks popularity, is a key indicator of online merchant performance.