Hello and welcome to today's independent travel podcast with me, Simon Calder.

It's Friday the 31st of January, the end of the golden month, possibly, not for people around the UK.

It's been pretty miserable and it seems to have been going on forever, but for the travel industry.

One of the most interesting people in the travel industry is Ashley Quint, and he is the director

of Travel Time, a Hartfordshire travel agency. So, talk us through what January has been like

for you, whether people are booking in good numbers. Yeah, January is always holiday season. People

after Christmas are looking for something to look forward to

for the summer or beyond, sometimes a little bit nearer. But what we're finding is a lot of the

clients who we deal with want something more adventurous and something a little bit more exciting than just a

beach holiday. And so where are people going?

First of all, where are they asking you for?

And if they just say, Ashley, where should we go?

What's the answer?

We've had a lot of people recently who have asked for Japan.

Asia generally has been really interesting for the last couple of months.

Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, in particular. A lot of it

comes down to price, unfortunately, where people's expectations don't necessarily meet reality.

First of all, Japan, really interesting. I was talking to Stanford's Matt from Travel Guide Shop,

and they say that their top seller is the Loaning Planet Guide to Japan, and in sixth place,

the rough guide to Japan. So lots of interest there, I presume, because it's exotic but also

safe. It's an expensive place to get to. I'm looking at a thick end of £1,000 for airfares alone.

And when you get there, although it's cheaper than it used to be, not exactly a bargain destination.

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