Choosing where to go on holiday used to be a simple business of visiting the travel agent and picking up some brochures. But these days, many people won't go anywhere without asking advice from a feng shui expert like Sarah Shurety.

At the start of every year, Shurety is busy advising business clients on travel routes for staff, venues for next year's conferences and the best dates for sales meetings. "Most companies based in Hong Kong will not travel during months that are not well-starred," she says. "They believe it will have a negative impact on growth and sales.

"In very simple terms, feng shui is about how the magnetic belts (the Van Allen belts) impact on our daily lives. We have haemoglobin [iron] in our bodies and, as a result, we are very sensitive to magnetic force. So when the magnetic belts change, as they do regularly each year, so do we, and the change has an impact on our energy levels. This even applies to where we should go on holi day if we want to have a good time. For example, a Horse could have gone to Miami last year and had a great time. But if they went this year, it wouldn't be as good.

"Each Chinese sign has a yearly and monthly direction in which they should go," she says. Each sign also has an element - Metal, Wood, Water or Fire. Wood Dragons like me can go south, south-west and north-west throughout the year, with South Africa, Majorca and Palma ideal destinations. But there are also monthly variations: it would be doubly good, for example, for Wood Dragons to travel south in March but there are some months when they shouldn't travel anywhere.

"What might be really good in June, won't be so good in July," she adds.

Certain Chinese signs are also better travellers than others. Rats, Dragons and Monkeys are the most energetic and adventurous. Pigs, Rabbits and Goats are more gentle travellers (they enjoy luxury and taking it easy). Snakes, Roosters and Oxen are the worst travellers of all, while the Tiger and Dog are stoic and the Horse is a good traveller (but only if you are male). The signs are also more at home in destinations that have similar characteristics as their own.

For example, those born in the Year of the Horse are, according to Shurety, "happiest in Japan where attention to detail and ceremony is meticulous. Horses are hypersensitive and sticklers for detail. Dragons are happiest in France and Italy, India and even the Middle East where everything is slightly wild and out of balance."

Unfortunately, deciding where to go for your holiday is not as simple as saying "If you're a Dragon, you'll have more fun in Majorca than you will in Mauritius this year". According to Shurety, there are many other issues that can change a forecast and which need to be considered before making a decision - not just about where to go but which type of person to travel with.

For a start, it depends on your element, which also depends on the year you were born. You also need to appreciate that each country belongs to a different element. The Middle East, Italy, France and India are all Fire countries - dynamic, dramatic, and where anything can happen. "So it usually follows that 1964 Dragons will have more fun in these countries, because it suits their personalities - but again, you can't generalise without knowing the other elements to your sign."

And this is the Year of the Horse, and therefore has a personality of its own. "The Horse is very headstrong, noble and freedom-loving," says Shurety. "It can also be a little flighty and volatile, just as an Arab horse can. So this year people will feel the urge to travel. Added to which, as the year ends in a '2', there is a strong Water element. Fire and Water create friction and steam. So there will be a lot of instability in the world; people will travel more."

However, all travellers can benefit from wearing black: "It is the colour of the kidneys and will prevent you from getting tired and jet lagged."

· For more tailored advice, Sarah Shurety holds seminars in London, Birmingham and Bristol. Private consultation fees start at £200 per hour plus VAT. Travelling expenses are £15 per hour plus costs. For further information about weekend courses, call 07000 781901, email info@ fengshuisite.com or write to The Lucky Feng Shui Company, 15 The Regency, Esterbrooke Street, London SW1P 4NL.

Your sign, your trip

Here's a rough guide to where to go this Chinese year (which ends February 13, 2003). Ditch the guide books - you'll have more luck with your holiday.

· You are a Dragon if you were born in 1940, 1952, 1964 or 1976. You are a Rat if you were born in 1936, 1948, 1960 or 1972. You are a Monkey if you were born in 1944, 1956, 1968 or 1980.

All these signs are extrovert, inquisitive and adventurous types. While enjoying an element of danger, however, they are flexible enough to realise that a civil war might mean they will have to change their holiday plans. They are good travellers - travellers as opposed to tourists - and like to explore and integrate with the locals. This year, head south and south-westerly . Anywhere in South America, especially Brazil, should be good.

· You are a Pig if you were born in 1947, 1959, 1971 or 1983. You are a Goat if you were born in 1943, 1955, 1967 or 1979. You are a Rabbit if you were born in 1939, 1951, 1963 or 1975.

All these signs like to travel but they also like everything just so. They would prefer tried and tested tour operators, tailor-made trips or escorted trips where they know everything is going to run according to plan. They don't like surprises and aren't particularly adventurous. They are tourists rather than travellers. This year, head south and west - Spain or the US, where you know what to expect.

· You are a Horse if you were born in 1942, 1954, 1966 or 1978. You are a Dog if you were born in 1946, 1958, 1970 or 1982. You are a Tiger if you were born in 1938, 1950, 1962 or 1974.

All these signs love travel, but they are completely fixed in their ideas and selfish. They are stoic to the point of being martyrs for their cause; civil war won't even stop this lot. Head east this year. Anywhere in the Far East is good since they tend to love detail and ceremony: Japan would be ideal.

· You are an Ox if you were born in 1937, 1949, 1961 or 1973. You are a Snake if you were born in 1941, 1953, 1965 or 1977. You are a Rooster if you were born in 1933, 1945, 1957 or 1969.

This group tend to be happiest at home. This year, if you can, you should stay put (or at least stay in the UK).