Welcome to today's independent travel podcast. I've got a press release here marked the death of the bargain holiday question mark. This is research that's been conducted by the PC agency, which says that only a quarter of Brits planning to take a summer holiday this year

have actually booked a trip abroad as, quote, inflation and economic uncertainty confront the UK.

And this sounds very worrying for the holidays that won't be taken, and of course for the travel industry,

which depends on millions of us going away every summer and spending, particularly after COVID,

a lot of money.

The chief executive of the PC agency is the consumer travel expert, Paul Charles.

Paul, give us the headlines then.

I think, Simon, we're starting to see the first signs of the cost of living crisis having an impact on whether I book or whether consumers book, certainly late deals.

And in the past, of course, we've been able to get a relatively cheap holiday at the last minute,

or certainly what you'd call a bargain holiday.

But with inflation this year running rampant, still very high, of course, at 8% or so,

and the hiking prices by hotels and airlines and others,

I think it's hard to find a bargain holiday this year.

And for many people who've responded to our research, over 1,000 adults in the UK interviewed

last week, they are saying that they are being put off booking by the cost of living crisis

and by, of course, the fact that prices are so high.

So they're dithering on whether to book or not.

Yet, I've been to lots of airports around the UK,

Manchester, Glasgow, Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton Stansted.

They seem as busy as ever, maybe even busier.

They are very busy and of course, flight levels are pretty well back to pre-pandemic levels of

2019. But I think what's starting to happen is that those looking to travel later in the

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