Chris Wouldhave from CT4N Travel and The Greek Specialist offers his advice on how to sell holidays to both Greeces mainland and its islands.
Greek holidays have always been a favourite of mine, ever since I first visited back in 1997. Since then, I have visited over 50 islands and a lot of the mainland. We offer about 80 islands and mainland destinations and I try to visit at least one or two more each year. This has given me knowledge which I can pass onto the customer, and it is this personal touch which is helping to convert a lot of the enquiries.
Boutique hotels, island hopping, recommendations for trips out and restaurant choices are all top of the wish list, and customers seem to be prepared to pay that bit extra to get exactly what they want. Knowledge is definitely the key, especially things such as new flight routes, new hotel openings and useful connections between destinations whether that be internal flights, rail or ferries.
We also have not been afraid to suggest unusual routings to get the customer exactly what they wanted, as an example we quoted a recent customer Karpathos to Heathrow via Prague. I think the biggest insight, however, has beentrying to get an understanding of what the customer is actually looking for from the holiday ? do they like history, the availability for day trips or preference of a sandy beach rather than shingle or pebble as well as the usual questions such as type of accommodation and board basis.
The top tips for selling Greece and her islands this year: every island is different so ensure that you do your research on whether the island is suitable. If clients want a bit of a quieter island then look at flying them via Athens (there are 14 islands with domestic airports only which can be connected via Athens) and check out whether the island fits their needs rather than trying to fit them to the island.
