You are listening to The Travel Podcast. Travel Podcast, today's most exciting travel destinations, brought to you by people with a real passion for travel, great holiday ideas, real reviews, practical advice, and all the best deals and one single podcast, The Travel Podcast. Now here is your host, Steve Witt.

Steve: Welcome to the very first Travel Podcast, where we aim to inspire you with some brilliant news, views and behind the scenes look at some of the most amazing destinations in the world. I'm Steve Witt, co-founder of one of the UK's biggest travel companies. And as always, I'm going to be joined by a rotating team of travel experts. They all work in travel, they're all travel experts and most importantly, they're absolutely passionate about traveling the world. So we'll come to those in a moment and everyone can introduce themselves. This may seem like the strangest time in the world to actually start a travel podcast, but we thought actually, when better to start a new travel podcast in the time when everyone's itching to travel the world. Hence, that's why you are listening to us today. So let's meet the team we have with us today. And in no particular order, if everyone could say hello, introduce themselves, and maybe your favorite destination in the world, just to inspire us. So let's start with Laueren.

Laueren: Hi everyone. I'm Laueren and I've been working in travel for nearly eight years now, and my favorite place in the entire world has got to be Costa Rica.

Steve: Why Costa Rica?

Laueren: I genuinely love it there. It's like a second home. Everything's really peaceful. It's just incredible over there, the way of life, the animals, the things you can do. I absolutely love it there.

Steve: And that must mean something because you are very well traveled, aren't you Laueren?

Laueren: I like to think so, yeah.

Steve: Brilliant. So next up is Matthew.

Matthew: Hi, I'm Matthew. I've worked in the travel industry, it's coming up five years. Before that I spent just over a decade work in between North America and Europe. So yeah, I love, love, love to travel. My favorite place to travel that I've visited is the islands of Hawaii.

Steve: And I'm sure we'll hear a lot about that because you've got a lot of stories about Hawaii.

Matthew: Yes, you most definitely will.

Steve: Fantastic. Right. We'll go to Gabby next.

Gaby: Hi everyone. I'm Gabby. I've worked in the travel industry for a couple of years now, but I've got a huge passion for traveling. I must say one of my favorite destinations is probably Croatia just because the scenery, it's absolutely stunning there.

Steve: Not because you're a Game of Thrones fan then?

Gaby: No, I've never watched an episode in my life.

Matthew: Wow.

Steve: Oh, okay. You're only person I know who hasn't.

Gaby: Yeah.

Steve: Okay, and last up today we have Dave.

Dave: Hi everybody. My name is Dave. I'm the old person here. This is my 31st year in travel. It's gone pretty quickly. I won't bore you with the whole 31 years because it will take too long, but I came from commission based sales up into director level responsibilities, running my own travel training business for 17 years. My favorite place today, and it changes every day, is Australia because of the diversity, the beaches, the rainforests, the people and of course the weather.

Steve: Fantastic. So you started in travel when you were about 10. Is that right, Dave?

Dave: I was a bit younger than Steve, about five I think.

Steve: Fantastic. So every episode we're going to pack with lots of great useful information about different destinations and hopefully inspire you to want to travel the world, giving you firsthand advice. We're going to be interviewing lots of different people from the travel sector and people who've traveled the world as well. But today we thought we'd start with the elephant in the room, which is talking about the fact we're not actually traveling anywhere at the moment and the effect that's having on people's ability to travel. We'll start by looking at what that means for anyone who had a holiday booked. And then we're going to go on to some more exciting topics about where each of us is planning to travel as soon as we can. So let's start with you, Dave. What is happening out there in travel right now for anyone who had a holiday booked and was looking forward to going away?

Dave: Well as you know, as you all may know, the government has an issue day worldwide advice and guidance not to travel up until a certain date. That means unfortunately, we've had to rearrange a lot of people's travel. And you would have seen this week the ABTA, one of our governing bodies, has given some advice to clients on exactly what they should be doing in this situation. Some of you may know about the packaged travel regulations, which was never really designed for this type of unprecedented situation. So the guidance at the moment is if your holiday, what we're saying is to rebook, reschedule because we all at the moment need something to look forward to.

Dave: So that's our first bit of advice. If you're unable to do that then your supplier may offer you a what we call a refund credit note to use on a future booking. Now, if you haven't used that by the end of July, you will be entitled to have a refund on your trip. What I would add there though is that if you are looking for or waiting for a refund, please be patient because the sheer volume of changes to people's holiday plans are immense. So that's the one bit of advice that I would give, Steve.

Steve: Brilliant. And Matthew, you deal with a lot of different sort of operators and suppliers with the work that you do. What's the sort of feeling out there at the moment from suppliers and destinations and what are we likely to see in the coming weeks and months do you think?

Matthew: I think like David said, a lot of people are just currently it's working on getting those who are currently away home, and those that were meant to be traveling within the next 72 hours of today's date and then each day going forward, making sure that they can amend, move people's holidays to different dates because obviously a lot of people were very excited away within this time of where there is the current travel ban, but making sure people still have that excitement to look forward to once it's over, even if it's the fact that it's next year. So people are being very, very flexible with their cancellation terms, amendment charges, waving a lot of it. Airlines have been very flexible in being able to book. Yeah, some people even, depending on where in the world you go in can book even up to October 2021. So it's just trying to, as an industry, that people are trying to make sure they rebook so they keep the customer happy, going to a destination that they really want to go to.

Matthew: But unfortunately, just not at the time that they wanted to this year. But like Dave said, it's an unprecedented situation around the world, and it's one that has to be played almost three days or 72 hours at time because in three weeks time it could be a different situation again. Yeah, so it's just people have to be very patient with, if they booked through an Uber tour operator, if they booked with someone online, especially if you're traveling in April, you've got to remember there's so many people before you that have been affected that they have to source out first. So they're putting in a lot, a lot of hours to make sure everyone has the outcome that they want in the future, but still making sure from a destination point of view, people still want tourists to be there.

Matthew: Otherwise, there's lots of hotels abroad that rely on people to travel. So if everyone cancels, all of a sudden as livelihoods abroad that will just disappear. So it is that's why the likes of ABTA are trying to make sure everyone rebooks. It's not just affecting businesses here, it's affecting businesses around the world and especially destinations that rely heavily like Spain, Jamaica, Greece. So many countries, their GDP is purely travel. So there's a lot there.

Steve: And Laueren, you come from a sales background. Are people booking holidays at the moment?

Laueren: There are still definitely bookings coming in. People always need something to look forward to, and so I think definitely the fact that the holidays on sale for 2021 even going up to 2022 as well. There are booking still going in, people do need something to look forward to and also the excitement of actually planning a holiday, researching it all, especially now we do have a bit more time to do that, people are planning ahead and still getting booked up.

Steve: And are there some great deals to be had at the moment?

Laueren: There are. There are some really amazing deals at the moment. And especially if you are booking ahead, you can obviously get it done on a low deposit and then you've got your monthly payments as well. So it's never been easier and a better way to book and pay off your holiday.

Steve: Fantastic. And Dave, any advice for anyone who's looking to book a holiday at the moment or thinking well, should I wait? Should I book it now? Should I wait? What's the right thing to do?

Dave: Yeah, it's a good question, Steve. I think it's about timing, I think. For booking ahead, and we've seen a lot of people booking for next summer as well as people changing to next summer. So people are still booking holidays, just not for the next couple of months. I mean, that's probably sensible. But we're seeing a lot of people saying I've got to have something to look forward to. And not only are people moving their holidays to probably later in the year, December, November time, but people are still booking for next year. As Laueren said, low deposits, you can spread the payments. I think travel is one of those things that you've always got to have something in the diary that you'll have to look forward to. Even if you keep moving them backwards like a couple of them are now, people are still booking holidays for the future. It's just one of those things that people will always have, always have to look forward to, yeah.

Steve: And I know, Gabby, you work in marketing within travel and you must be seeing lots of offers coming in over time and lots of people, tour operators trying to push products to sell, if you will, like destinations. Are there any that are catching your eye and you're thinking, wow, that just looks amazing at the moment?

Gaby: Yeah. Looking ahead to 2021, there's some really, really good deals at the moment. We've actually just put some out ourselves that are kind of going a little bit further afield. So there's some really, really good offers to South America. We're seeing some really great offers in Europe as well. So there's a real mixture. And actually, looking ahead to the end of 2020 and '21, you can really get yourself a bargain.

Steve: So is it safe to book a holiday at the moment?

Gaby: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think, obviously-

Steve: So if I-

Gaby: No, I was just going to say, I think obviously, don't book a holiday in the next three months, but towards the end of the year then I think definitely it'd be great to have something to look forward to.

Steve: So if you were to book something now and circumstances are such that we're still not traveling, are people going to get their money back or get to rebook their holidays? Is that the case?

Dave: Yeah, I think when are people are booking now, nobody knows how long the situation will be around, but if people book then if it's then canceled, then they'll just be given the opportunity to rebook and reschedule again. So it would just keep moving. But to have something there I think in the first place is the main thing. If we keep moving it back, then that's what we do, but they have something booked anyway. And one thing also, with people booking ahead, what you find is not only do you get some great deals at the moment, but also you get more choice. You get choice of rooms, you get choices of where to sit on the plane. So there's lots of advantages for booking in the future to get in early. If you leave it late sometimes, you've usually got what's left. But I think when you book ahead there's a lot more than just the price, it's the availability in choice you may not get if you book a couple of days before.

Matthew: A lot of cruise lines given up to... You can rebook and amend up to 40 hours prior to your departure. So it is worth, again, looking at people who have their own product. They're being very flexible with their booking conditions because again, no one really knows what the climate is but they still want you to book to have something to look forward to. So you do ask the question. If you're speaking with any travel consultant or any tour operator or cruise line, ask the question and that's the best thing to do at the moment. And they can give you what their current terms and conditions are and what the situation is.

Dave: And some people, some suppliers also for new bookings have reduced the amount of time you have to pay so you can pay near the departure date. So again, it gives you a bit more flexibility.

Steve: Brilliant. And Gabby, you mentioned don't book anything for the next three months. Now, I know that people do have holidays booked in the next three months. I guess we're saying, don't worry if you have got one booked, just probably don't plan to book a new one in the next three months. Is that fair to say?

Gaby: Yeah, absolutely. I think obviously, if you've got a holiday booked in the next three months, then you just got to see how things pan out. I mean, I've got holidays, but in the next three months. I'm meant to be going to Las Vegas and at the beginning of May. And obviously as it stands, I probably won't be going, but you've just got to wait and see what your suppliers say. If it was a new booking yet, I'd probably advise not to book anything just yet, for the next three months that is.

Steve: Okay, brilliant. So we're going to come on to talk about where we'd each like to go on holiday next, as soon as the sort of restrictions are lifted, where we're all going to jet off to or cruise off to or drive off to, whatever the choice may be. But before we do that, Matthew, what can we expect from The Travel Podcast over the coming episodes?

Matthew: Over the coming episodes, we've got a lot of North American episodes coming up. So we'll be having a Las Vegas episode highlighting what there is to away from the strip as well as on the strip. I know Laueren's been there very recently so we're going to get a lot of information from her. I spent 11 months there, so a lot of insight from myself, and we've got a guest from Maverick Helicopters. We'll be looking at Ibiza. We'll also look at faraway lands as Australia, Thailand. So there's a lot coming up. We're also looking at the UK, so we will be, in the coming months, diversifying across the whole world to give you inspirational, inspiring you really, to where to go. And like Gabby said, you may not be thinking of booking now for the next three months, but don't discount traveling in the next three months. Even if the travel restrictions get lifted in certain countries, you might be to get some brilliant last minute deals. So hopefully a lot of what we talk about over the coming months and years will inspire you to go to new destinations.

Steve: Fantastic. And we'll be having a live virtual studio audience for some of these as well to be able to ask the questions. We are going to be bringing people in who've been away to different destinations. We've got lots of guests, hoteliers, tour operators, suppliers and experts in all areas of travel and we'll be mixing up quite a lot of our content, if you like, our interviews and segments. So it should be a lot of fun and give you that virtual tour of the world in the process. So let's start then by or going back to looking at where each of us would like to go on our holidays as soon as the restrictions are lifted. So I'm going to start with Gabby. Gabby, where are you going to jet off to first?

Gaby: So I've actually got a surprise trip planned for my boyfriend in New York. So yeah, I'm really hoping that in September I'll be jetting off there.

Matthew: I hope he's not listening to this.

Gaby: Yeah, I know. I'm [inaudible 00:16:51] keep him away from it. No, he does know about it. It was for his birthday in March. So yeah, I just think I've always, always dreamed of going to New York. I'm so excited. There's literally everything that you can ever want to do there. And I just think it's the perfect combination of a city break and a bit of indulgence as well.

Steve: And what's the first thing you're going to do when you arrive?

Gaby: So we're actually staying in a hotel that has got its very own rooftop bar. So I think the very first thing I'll do when I arrive is go to the rooftop bar and have a cocktail. And you can actually see the Empire State Building from our hotel. So yeah, probably just chill out there for a bit.

Steve: What's the name of the hotel?

Gaby: It's called The Refinery.

Steve: Very nice. We'll [inaudible 00:17:40] doing that in a minute.

Gaby: Yeah.

Matthew: New York is a great destination.

Gaby: Yeah. I'm very excited. I can't wait. If anyone's got any top tips for me, I'll be all ears.

Matthew: You've got to go over to Brooklyn and explore the neighborhoods because a lot of people only think about just going to Times Square or Central Park. But a lot of the neighborhoods around the New York boroughs have really kicked on. It's be like going somewhere like Shore ditch in London. So very, very cool little markets. There's the meatpacking district, which has really been redeveloped. You've got Soho as well, area which is great. And obviously you've got, now you can go down to Wall Street area. If you go down there you can actually see the Statue of Liberty and get a good photo of Statue of Liberty if you don't want to get on the ferry across and do the tour itself. It's a very walk... I'd say walk it. It's easy to navigate. Everything's done in numbers and the blocks is all very square, pretty much. So you won't get lost. But it's a very walkable city.

Gaby: Yeah. No, Laueren, I think you sent me a link to a food festival in Brooklyn actually, so I'll be definitely interested in looking at that as well.

Laueren: Yeah, definitely. I need you to do the Gossip Girl tour.

Gaby: Absolutely.

Matthew: What's the Gossip Girl tour?

Laueren: A tour of all the places they filmed Gossip Girl.

Matthew: Sounds, sounds wonderful.

Dave: I have a tip for New York. I have a tip for New York. I had my honeymoon in New York many years ago over New Year, and Grand Central Station used to have a great seafood bar. I don't know if it's still there because it was a few years ago, but that's my tip for New York. Yeah.

Gaby: Amazing. I love seafood.

Steve: Excellent. Well, make it your mission to go and find out if it's still there.

Gaby: Yeah. I absolutely will.

Dave: [crosstalk 00:19:42] see if they remember me, Gabby?

Gaby: Yeah.

Matthew: I would say if you want to a good photo of the skyline, if you go up Rockefeller at night, and then you'll have the Empire State Building. Whereas if you go up The Empire State Building, you won't be able to capture that one. So the Rockefeller is a great one to go up to the observation deck and get a photo in the evening.

Gaby: Yeah, I've definitely heard that tip before, definitely.

Steve: Brilliant stuff. So from New York to somewhere very, very different. Dave, where are you going to be jetting off to?

Dave: Well not so much jetting, Steve. More driving, I would say. No, I've traveled around the world but this might come as a little bit unexpected, but my happy place, the first place I will be going will be Cornwall. I'm actually booked to go to Cornwall. I go there a couple of times a year. And from sort of packing up the car, the top box, getting up early to miss the traffic, as a family we stay in a specific part of North Cornwall, which is called Porth.

Dave: We stay on this beautiful family holiday park in a really fantastic mobile home, indoor swimming pools, bar restaurant. It's like a go active center, but it's like a five minute drive from my favorite beach in the world, which is called Porth Beach. And it's several reasons why I like this place. First, there's no dogs. I know a lot of people love dogs, but there's no dogs. There's no surf. Now, I like surfing, but you don't get loads and loads of surfers on this beach. There are some beaches up from there, Watergate Bay, where you can surf. It also has a river going down the side of the beach so you can fish.

Dave: So it's never busy. You can play cricket with the kids, you can swim in the sea, beautiful clear sea. But it was a Porth has my favorite pub in the whole world called The Mermaid. And if anyone's ever been to Porth, you will know The Mermaid because it's actually in the sand. At the back of the beach, The Mermaid is in the sand. So on a sunny day on Porth Beach, and at the end of the day he can just walk back, have a beer, sit in the sand. When it's sunny I wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world, if I'm honest, and always sad to leave. I'm due to go in May also to Cornwall, so hopefully we'll be able to do that as a family. But yeah, it doesn't really matter about the weather. If the weather is great, then you could be anywhere in the world. Cornwall is like that. And if the weather is not great, then it's still a fantastic place to be, lots of things to do. So that's where I will be going either in May or soon as possible.

Steve: So a great tip for anyone who's coming in from overseas as well. Great place to visit.

Dave: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.

Steve: I actually went surfing with my wife to Watergate Bay that you mentioned there, and got lost on the beach.

Dave: It is a very big beach.

Steve: And we didn't know which way the sea was and which way the shore was. It was that foggy.

Dave: That's a key thing with Cornwall because yeah, I go on a surfing trip every year in September with some friends. So yeah, we wouldn't go there. We'd go to [inaudible 00:22:42] or we'd go to other places on Watergate Bay. We certainly won't get to Porth if you want to do some surfing. So different type of trip determines a different location. But no, as soon as the car pulls in, you just change. Your whole sort of feeling changes and you just go into relax mode.

Steve: Fantastic. Right. Next up then, Laueren, where will you be going?

Laueren: Oh, I've already begun to upload, but I will definitely, as soon as I can leave the UK, unlike Dave, I will be leaving. I will definitely be heading back to Costa Rica. Their motto there is pure vida, which basically means simple life, and I feel like I could really do with some of that right now. The weather over there is amazing. I need a few days laying by the beach, by the pool and then some more adventurous activities. And in Costa Rica you can really do it all over there. It's like a second home, so I feel like I need to go home there as soon as I can.

Steve: Sounds terrible.

Laueren: I know.

Matthew: What coast do you go to, Laueren?

Laueren: I normally go to the Pacific coast.

Matthew: Will you go off and do any exploring or just chill by the beach?

Laueren: No, I'll go off and do exploring. So there's quite a few national parks you can go to and a few volcanoes you can see. You can hike around them. A lot of them have activity centers there so you can go off and do your hiking in the morning and then the afternoon you do a white water rafting, zip wiring over the canyons, you can visit the mud baths. So definitely be doing some of that as well.

Steve: Well, we expect to hear all about it when you get back.

Laueren: Definitely.

Steve: Matthew, where will you be going?

Matthew: I spoke about it earlier. I'll be going to the islands of Hawaii, but I'm going to be a bit greedy. I'm going to do a multicenter, so I can do all the islands in Hawaii. And then because it is so far away... It takes you a day to travel there, but it's definitely worth it for the escapism. Although we're obviously in lockdown here, being able to just go over and explore the islands, get out with nature, whether it be on land or within the water is unbelievable. The treks and the biodiversity that you can see on walks out there is second to none. Highly recommend if you're only going to be able to get to one island, go to the big islands where it's got almost every single biodiversity in the world on one island. And you can drive around it in a day, but it's just absolutely stunning.

Matthew: Got volcanoes, sand dunes, you've got high desert. Technically you could ski there in the winter. There's snow on the mountains and rolling green hills of Shropshire. Well, like Shropshire. Obviously not Shropshire because you're on the big islands, but it's just absolutely stunning. And then the other islands are very different. They're not all the same so I just try to island hop around Hawaii and do quite a bit of scuba diving as well and learn how to surf. But on the way home, I'll be stopping off in Vegas to have a bit of a party. There's a nice little layover on the way back for a few days and let your hair down and really get out and enjoy yourself.

Steve: Well, fascinating stuff because I think it's really interesting to see where people who work in travel, where they go on their holidays tells you quite a lot, I think. So I guess I probably should say where I'm going as well. So I was actually due to be done to Cyprus right now. Today I should actually be in Cyprus, working I should add, in a five star hotel with a conference. So that would have been a great way of getting a few rays. Next month I'm due to be in Ras Al Khaimah and Dubai, so chances are that's not going to happen. So that would be a great thing to do, but the reality is I'm actually going to jet off to Lanzarotti, which is as these podcasts unfold, you'll probably learn that that's my go to place. It's one of those Marmite places, if you know what Marmite is. I love it because I'm into water sports.

Steve: I love wind surfing and it's my second home. I can just go and relax. It's always sunny. It's nice and windy, so don't get too hot as well. I can do my wind surfing, so that's fantastic, and it's one of the most iconic islands I think you're going to go to. It's full of lava flows from thousands of years ago and it's such an unusual landscape. They practice the lunar landings there. They've done all sorts of filming on locations for films there because it is the strangest landscape you're ever going to see and no big high rise hotels. It's the friendliest location and it's just under four hours to get to, I think. So it's that's simple. You can fly from most regional airports in the UK, so it's that simple, pretty cheap once you're there as well. And yeah, so laid back. That's my go to place.

Steve: I do love going to luxury resorts around the world as well and go exploring, but I think my first trip away is going to be there just for a weekend. I think that wraps up today, our first ever Travel Podcast. Stay or keep listening for more of these. If you are on iTunes or your go to podcast player, please subscribe to future additions. And if you love this and few traditions, please leave us a nice five star review to encourage more people to listen. On our next or up and coming episodes, we'll be taking you on a tour of the world and involving even more people in these episodes. If you'd like us to feature a particular destination or you have travel questions, you can email studio@thetravelpodcast.com and we will definitely take a look at that. But for now, thank you for tuning in and listening and we shall see you very soon.

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