Shub tour to Greece - 3 days. Shop tour with obligations.

Sunny Mediterranean Greece is a country of fur craftsmen. And if the country of warm coasts and delightful beaches cares about creating fashionable and beautiful fur coats and fur coats, then you and I, who have been living in real winter for many months, will find such concerns especially useful! In Kastoria, the fur capital of the country and a major center of European fur production, there are more than 1,500 factories - can you imagine what a huge range and selection of fur products awaits you?

The history of fur making in Kastoria goes back more than five centuries. Needless to say, how developed the skills of furriers are here, how reverently the families of craftsmen treat their work, passing on knowledge and skills from generation to generation, improving dressing and cutting technologies. It is in this city that there is a colossal selection of fur coats and fur products.

The leading tour operator in Greece, Mouzenidis Travel, recommend going fur shopping at any time of the year as part of the popular Fur fashion tour for fur coats in Kastoria .

Which fur coat tour is right for you?

• If the purpose of your trip is only fur coat shopping and excursions, then choose a standard Fur fashion tour with the obligation to purchase a fur coat
• If you want to complement your shopping days with a vacation at Greek resorts and additional excursion trips, then go on a Fur fashion tour with a vacation at one of the Greek resorts with the obligation to purchase a fur product
• If you want to combine the celebration of New Year, Christmas and shopping, then the holiday option of the trip - the New Year's Fur fashion tour - is the ideal choice for you, because you simply cannot think of a better winter gift than a fashionable fur coat!

Which tour is more profitable?

This question is asked by any woman who is going on a fur trip. If you look through the websites of travel agencies, a tour with obligations is presented as more profitable. And indeed, the cost of an entire trip to Greece can be equal to the cost of just one fur coat.

However, only people who have been on such tours know about some of the features of their organization:

1. The approximate prices for fur coats, which are indicated on the travel agency’s website or in the contract, in reality turn out to be significantly lower than those announced to tourists on the spot.

That is, a fur coat costing 1200-1500 euros, which you need to buy in order to fulfill your obligation, simply may not exist. Or it will be a tiny fur vest of not the best quality.

2. In fur tours, tourists travel in groups. Before entering each store, members of each group are given badges or coupons so that, according to the guides, people from different groups can not be confused with each other.

In fact, using these “insignia”, sellers determine what kind of tour the person standing in front of them purchased from - with or without obligations - and based on this they tell him the price of a fur coat.

For those who have a tour with obligations, the cost of the product will be on average 400-500 euros more expensive. As they write on the forums, this is how the Greeks recoup their costs of hospitality.

3. You cannot leave the group and go shopping on your own. However, the fact that shub tours with obligations are still more popular than without them suggests that there are still benefits in such an event, and significant ones.

Prices for fur coat tours

The price of a fur shopping tour can be purely symbolic - depending on the city of departure, the trip will cost from 1 euro ! This is possible if you choose a Fur fashion tour with the obligation to purchase a fur product worth at least 1200 euros , while all expenses for the trip are covered by the Kastoria Furriers Association. Tour participants who have taken on such a pleasantly beneficial commitment receive services included in the tour as a gift! The price of Fur fashion tours with the obligatory purchase of a fur coat includes: air travel, accommodation in a 4-5* hotel, medical insurance, transfers according to the tour program on a comfortable bus with free Wi-Fi, meals, excursions during the move to Kastoria (excursions in hotels on vacation are paid separately), guidebook. There is an additional cost for a visa.

Fur shopping tours to Greece: the whole truth about shopping tours

HomeNews ATOR Bulletin

08.08.2016

In recent years, tourists and representatives of the travel agency business have begun to doubt whether it makes sense to buy so-called fur tours. Larisa Korpusova, project manager greek - furs . com , part of the Mouzenidis Group , tells why this type of tourism can now become profitable for travel agencies.

— Larisa, you are the head of the Greek - furs . com . What was the goal of the Mouzenidis Group when creating this site?

— When developing the Greek-furs.com website, we first identified 4 groups of users who would be interested in this resource:

1. these are potential consumers who would like to prepare for a fur shopping tour to Greece, read about factories and furs;

2. fur industry professionals who have an urgent need to track industry news and keep abreast of the latest trends;

3. travel agencies that did not have time to visit the capital of fur production - the city of Kastoria, but have a desire to promote and offer shopping tours to their clients;

4. and, finally, just tourists who are in love with Kastoria, its history, historical sights, Orthodox shrines, who want to keep abreast of events in the city.

Today, Greek-furs.com is a professional platform and a multifaceted project, where everyone can find not only interesting information about Greek model houses, about international fur auctions, about furs, about the most fashionable trends in fur fashion, about cultural life in the fur capital of the world , but also take part in photo competitions, seminars, conferences, webinars, and online conferences.

The main goal that we pursue with the help of this site is to remind the whole world that the best fur coats are made in Greece, in the internationally recognized fur capital of Kastoria, and it is worth buying them here.

— Is there any basis for rumors that shopping tours to Greece some time ago ceased to be a sought-after tourism product, and the number of tourists wanting to buy a fur coat in Greece has decreased significantly?

— Of course, the popularity of trips to Greece to buy a fur coat depends on many global trends, both economic and social, and that is why Kastoria has gone through different times. There was a decline in interest in the early 2000s, when a new country entered the fur market, large and producing everything from toys to cars. This new manufacturer, roughly speaking, “outbid” Greece in price. But when customers who bought fur coats produced in this country were convinced that quality was very far from there, fur fans remembered the saying “We are not rich enough to buy cheap things.” Within a few years, clients returned to Kastoria.

At a certain period of time, we noticed a decline in our tours, and we changed the philosophy of the fur coat tour itself. Now this is not just a highly specialized tour, where our guests visited only fur shops and the exhibition center in Kastoria, but a whole journey with a mark of quality. We accommodate our guests only in 4* and 5* hotels and introduce them to the city of Thessaloniki - a sightseeing tour comes as a gift. Our main goal is to create such an atmosphere on the tour so that each participant feels like a real lady.

Of course, fur fashion is also influenced by economic factors, for example, the international economic crisis that we have been experiencing in recent years. But this did not become a critical moment in terms of the popularity of Kastoria, because people came to understand that fur is a valuable commodity, like precious metals, it is a profitable investment of money.

— Many tourists are simply afraid to take shopping tours to Greece, suspecting that there is a risk of not finding the desired product, or of overpaying. Many are confused by the cost of the tour with the obligation to purchase a fur product for 1 euro, which includes round-trip air travel, accommodation in 4+* and 5* hotels with two meals a day, excursions, and visits to factories and exhibition centers in Kastoria.

— We will dispel the doubts of those who want to visit Kastoria and buy the fur coat of their dreams. A shopping tour is beneficial to everyone - both tourists, for whom the product was created, and travel agents, who are the main driver of fur shopping tours on the market. And, of course, to the owners of the Kastoria fur factories, and to the operator Mouzenidis Travel. I'll tell you the backstory. In the 90s, after repeated not always successful, and sometimes even dramatic attempts to enter the Russian market, furriers belonging to the Association of Fur Manufacturers of Northern Greece and the tour operator Mouzenidis Travel signed a historical agreement under which the tour operator is the organizer of shopping tours and organizes trips for clients to Kastoria, and the Manufacturers Association is the payer for air tickets and accommodation.

Now that it’s clear where these prices come from, let’s break it all down. Why is it beneficial for the client:

• Purchasing the “dream fur coat” directly from the manufacturer, the opportunity to choose from a wide range. If you combine all the fur shops and exhibitions in Russian cities in one place, you won’t get even a fifth of the fur coats that are presented in the factories and exhibition centers of Kastoria.
• Buying first-hand is cheaper than from any intermediary. Our monitoring of the fur market in Russia and other Eastern European countries shows that there are very few Greek fur coats on sale, and if they are, they are sold at an uncompetitive price. This is explained by the additional costs incurred by the supplier: arrival in Greece, sending a large batch of fur coats to Russia with the customs clearance procedure (which does not happen to customers on a shopping tour who bring fur coats for themselves, no more than three units per person), renting a store, store advertising, profits - all this affects the increase in the cost of Greek fur coats sold outside of Greece.
• Buying a quality fur coat with a manufacturer’s warranty from 3 to 15 years, and this is not the limit. Which store in your city will give you a quality guarantee on a fur coat for at least a year? I can answer: none. Only the furrier of Kastoria, who with his own hands sewed a fur coat from furs exclusively of the Alpha and Vita categories (furs of other categories are prohibited from being imported into Greece at the legislative level) can guarantee that if something happens to this fur coat during the warranty period through no fault of the buyer, then he will repair it completely free of charge or even exchange it for a similar new product. The high quality of Greek fur coats is their only “minus”: 6-10 years pass, and you already want to update your wardrobe, but your fur coat looks and wears like new!
• Another advantage of buying a fur coat in Kastoria is the possibility of free dry cleaning of the fur product from the fur coat manufacturer. Dry cleaning for fur is not available everywhere, and this service costs from 100 euros. In our case, in a few years you can come on holiday to Chalkidiki, or Pieria, or Corfu, and you won’t even need to go to Kastoria: enjoy your holiday at sea, and we ourselves will take the fur coat to Kastoria for cleaning and bring it back to hotel.
• Possibility to “adjust” a fur coat to any figure for free. What difference does it make how a fur coat from a display case fits if the manufacturer of this fur coat fits it perfectly on you within a few hours? Shortening the sleeves, altering buttons or rearranging a row of hooks, adding a hood, belt loops or vice versa, removing details - these are such little things for a person who sewed a fur coat with his own hands.
• Vacation at a symbolic cost - a trip to Greece, a tour of the northern capital, the city of Thessaloniki, accommodation in 4*-5* hotels with the stated two meals a day in Kastoria (and there is also lunch as a gift from the company, in the Kastoria tavern), evening rest in the best bar overlooking the lake, the opportunity to attend the excursion “Meteora - the eighth wonder of the world” (for an additional fee), rest in a pre-selected hotel for the desired number of nights. The trip includes not only the purchase of a fur product, but also the emotions of a wonderful trip.

— Why is it profitable for both a travel agent and a tour operator to offer shopping tours?

— This is an excellent product for the low winter season. Fur buying tours to Greece are an excellent tool for keeping agency profitability at the level of summer levels, or even higher.

You sent a tourist on a shopping tour, he, of course, liked it and is pleased with the results. Now he is yours forever. When selecting any tour in any season to any country, it will come back to you, because you have established yourself as a tourism professional.

Believe me, not only the agent, but also Mouzenidis Travel benefits from the successful work of the agency. We may be able to fill our flights during the autumn and winter months. We can offer shopping tour clients additional services. A tourist came on a shopping tour, bought the fur coat of his dreams, had a good time, won’t he buy an excursion from us and undergo medical diagnostics from the Grekomed company?! And finally, this is another way to advertise Greece. A tourist may not even know what Greece is and cannot find it on the map, but he wants to get a fur coat. The agent, of course, suggests Greece. Having arrived to us, a tourist falls in love with the country and returns in the summer season for a beach holiday with his family.

— As a specialist in shopping tours with many years of experience accompanying tourists in Kastoria, could you reveal the formula for success in sales of this tourist product?

— Successful sales of fur buying tours consist of several stages. Only a competent presentation of the product will allow it to be sold. I’ll tell you more: many of our partners who specialize in sales of shopping tours regularly visit Kastoria and get acquainted with new collections and trends, and even monitor prices for fur at international auctions in order to advise their clients to buy a fur coat from the fur that was purchased this season at competitive prices.

Our task is to completely satisfy the tourist. Over 20 years of operating shopping tours, we have encountered different situations, and if any of them arise, we have developed instructions on how to resolve the situation.

It is extremely important to know the history of shopping tours, the dynamics of sales over the past 20 years, which will allow you to answer the most frequently asked question when selling a shopping tour: “What’s the catch?” If you openly tell the tourist that it is more economically profitable for the manufacturer himself to bring it to his place in Kastoria, rather than bring the fur coat to the tourist in his city, all doubts will be dispelled.

We always tell agencies that the more shopping tours your company has sold, the easier it is to sell them further. Just think that your tourist will show up in his new fur coat to his colleagues at work, to his relatives, to his friends, and will turn all of them into potential clients for fur shopping tours and offer the services of your company.

The skills of comparative marketing analysis of offers from factories, fur shops and exhibition centers in Kastoria - assortment, quality, prices - also help in the work. Walk through fur shops and fur exhibitions in your city, see what is being sold and at what price. And then come to us in Kastoria and feel the difference. Make sure that when you offer a fur shopping tour, you are offering a good deal for the tourist.

Proper advice to tourists on shopping tours on product prices in Greece. You shouldn’t promise tourists that for 1,200 euros they can buy a full-length Blackglama fur coat with a hood. Explain to tourists that people come to Greece not for cheap fur coats, but for the best fur coats in the world at the best price in the world. Moreover, in the coming autumn-winter season in Kastoria, our clients can expect very reasonable prices and big discounts. At recent international auctions, Kastoria furriers purchased furs at very competitive prices, and 90% of the cost of a fur coat is the cost of the fur spent on sewing it.

Believe me, each agency can independently generate demand by actively offering shopping tours to clients and advertising them using all available resources.
The specificity of a shopping tour is that it needs to be offered to potential clients, and potential clients on shopping tours are almost all ladies and many gentlemen of your city. Let's invite them this year not to buy “whatever for a lot of money” in the nearest store, but to go to Kastoria and choose the fur coat of their dreams at the best price. come back

Fashionistas and travelers have already appreciated the convenience of such trips:

• Greece is amazing at any time of the year,
• shopping can be supplemented with exciting excursions,
• low prices! (the cost of fur coats has been reduced by 30-70%).
• in Kastoria we have the widest selection of models, all types of fur and cut, a full range of sizes, we guarantee that in one of the factories in the city you will find the fur coat of your dreams!
• a colossal assortment along with a combination of price and quality of products,
• you purchase a fur product from the manufacturer, therefore, there are no markups and intermediaries,
• fur coats from Kastoria are covered by a quality guarantee of 10 years,
• any modifications to the product are possible at the place of its sewing,
• tours are affordable,
• different duration - from 3 days or more,
• accommodation – only in selected hotels of 4-5 star categories,
• support by Russian-speaking tour operator experts and comprehensive assistance,
• all transfers according to the program are carried out on comfortable buses with free WI-FI,
• and a Greek Schengen visa will allow you to travel to Greece more than once at a convenient time - on vacation or for a weekend.

The fur coat journey begins from the city of Thessaloniki, from where a comfortable transfer bus will take you to Kastoria. The craftsmen who sewed the fur coat you liked will be able to adjust it on the spot for a better fit, replace accessories, etc.

Trip details

But to become the owner of an excellent fur coat from Greece, you need to know where and who to contact. If a buyer travels to a warm country as a tourist, hoping to pick up a fur product on his own, then knowledgeable people recommend abandoning the idea. Firstly, searching for trusted manufacturers will take a beginner a lot of time. And even if you manage to find a factory, it is not a fact that purchasing these products will be profitable. To save time, money and become the owner of a truly high-quality fur coat, it is recommended to go on a fur tour. This is a tourist trip for the purpose of shopping.

Prices for fur coats have decreased in Kastoria. What is the reason?

It's no secret that the price of a fur coat depends, among other things, on the cost of purchasing raw materials. At the most important fur auctions in Scandinavia, Canada and the USA, prices for all furs have dropped significantly. In turn, Greek furriers have reduced prices for finished products: unprecedented discounts from 30% to 70% await you in all factories, all boutiques and the Edika exhibition center!

More information about discounts in Kastoria

Tours to Kastoria are always a good option for a fur coat trip. Among thousands of models and all kinds of fur, you will certainly find the fur coat of your dreams in one of the city’s factories! And there are also furry bonuses for tour participants: the trip includes pleasant surprises, including the opportunity to receive a fur product as a gift!

Types of fur tours

Commitment tour

The essence of this fur coat tour is that a tourist traveling to Greece undertakes (and this is stated in the contract) to buy a fur coat worth no less than a certain amount.

These figures are different for different agencies; on average, a fur coat purchased should not be cheaper than 1200-1500 euros. Thus, the association of Greek fur manufacturers (mainly in the city of Kastoria, but fur tours are also organized in Athens) provides itself with a stable flow of real buyers. The duration of such tours is 3-5 days.

Commitment tours have some nuances:

• The hotel for accommodation and the schedule of all days of the trip are determined by the tour operator; the tourist only needs to agree. In some cases, hotels are available to choose from, but for an additional fee, the same applies to excursions;
• if you are traveling with the whole family, then the number of fur coats purchased should be equal to the number of family members, including children;
• if you travel together with a friend to buy one fur coat for two, even a very expensive one, this will not be a fulfillment of obligations;
• if you buy at least three fur coats at a price less than specified in the contract, you will also not fulfill your obligations to the receiving party;
• if instead of a fur coat for 1200 euros you buy a hat for 2000 euros, your obligations will still remain unfulfilled.

If you don’t like any of the thousands of fur coats and sheepskin coats, you will have to reimburse the cost of your trip, on average 400-500 euros. However, guides and store employees will do everything to prevent you from leaving without buying anything, so it’s quite difficult not to buy anything.

Approximate tour program with obligations in Kastoria:

Day one: arrival in Thessaloniki, city tour, transfer to Kastoria, check-in at the hotel, dinner.

Day two: breakfast at the hotel, visit to the Edika fur complex, lunch, visit to factories and shops, traditional Greek dinner with dancing.

Day three: packing, transfer to the airport, flight home.

Fur tours of this type can be longer by 1-2 days; additional days are usually devoted to relaxation and excursions (for an additional fee).

Tour without obligation

A short trip to the “fur paradise” of Greece, but without signing an agreement on the obligatory purchase of a fur coat, is called a fur-tour without obligation. The route and program of such a tour are completely similar to a commitment tour. The only difference is that you can leave Kastoria or Athens without the coveted fur coat.

What is the advantage

Reviews about fur coat tours to Greece claim that this option is the most reasonable. By contacting a travel agency, a potential buyer gets rid of many problems. Professional specialists will organize the trip, take care of the hotel, and take the client to the factory, where you can select and purchase a high-quality fur coat. As additional services, each tourist will be provided with food and transfer back home. Of course, the entire package of services will not be cheap. But, as a result, the tourist gets a comfortable trip to a warm country and the opportunity to purchase a high-quality fur product directly from the manufacturer.

What does the shopping tour offer?

When everyone goes shopping in Greece, tourists get the opportunity to visit large fairs 2021 - 2021, which offer the best products made from natural fur. A shopping tour must include a visit to the city of Kastoria. Reviews from fashionistas assure that this is where the best manufacturers of fur items are located. Coming to Kastoria, every tourist can see the luxury and splendor of fur production. Here, in front of visitors, experienced craftsmen create their best fur coats from natural furs.

Let's say more, Kastoria is the center of Greek fur production. Thousands of business and showbiz stars come here every year. People who earn millions know a lot about furs and other attributes of a luxurious life. Movie stars come here to put on new fur coat models for the 2020-2021 season and shine at film festivals.

In custody

If you plan to purchase a high-quality fur coat, it is recommended to go on a fur-tour to Greece. Being the largest producer of fur products, this warm country is ready to surprise customers with new products. Greek shopping will surprise tourists with a rich selection and reasonable prices. The cost of products in factories ranges from one thousand to three and a half thousand euros. Short fur coats are priced at around 3,500 euros. The prices may seem high to some. But the excellent quality and excellent appearance of the fur coats more than pay for the cost.