Digital travel brands TripAdvisor, Airbnb and Booking.com rate highly in YouGov BrandIndex

Premier Inn has emerged top of a YouGov study of travel brands for 2015. The Whitbread-owned budget chain was rated first in the rankings for travel agents, hotels and guides.

Premier Inn has emerged top of a YouGov study of travel brands for 2015.

The Whitbread-owned budget chain was rated first in the rankings for travel agents, hotels and guides.

TripAdvisor took second position followed by Center Parcs, P&O Cruises and Travelodge.

Home sharing site Airbnb was ranked as the most improved brand in the category followed by P&O Cruises, Virgin Holidays, Travelodge and Booking.com.

British Airways was the top ranked airline with Ryanair the top improving airline brand.

Manchester Airport took the top slot in the airports category with Gatwick ranked as the most improved brand.

Disneyworld Florida was ranked top in the leisure and entertainment section with rival Universal Studios Florida in fifth place.

The BrandIndex measures the public’s perception of brands on a daily basis across a range of methods and annual rankings are compiled from scores across the year.

Brands are rated using YouGov BrandIndex’s Buzz score metric, which measures the key messaging heard about a brand through advertising, news, word-of-mouth or friends and family during the previous two weeks.

It also measures recent brand sentiment and indicates whether the awareness has been positive or negative.

P&O Cruises senior vice president of sales and marketing, Paul Ludlow, said: “We are the market leading cruise line for British guests and it is great to see this being consolidated among the UK consumers – improving on last year and coming fourth overall is a huge achievement.”

He added: “Through our ‘This is the Life’ strapline we have created a compelling and distinctive brand which resonates with guests – both new and past guests – putting us at the forefront of the British holiday market, not just the cruise industry.”