Shopping holidays are an area ripe for the picking, offering a new and exciting way to explore a destination. Agents can entice clients with the lure of a bargain and still combine the historical sites, cultural gems and vistas to create a well-rounded package.

Most holidays can have a shopping edge and shopping around the world is a pastime for many, predominantly female, New Zealanders.

There are some key destinations that are the Holy Grail for shopaholics.

Shorthaul highlights include Melbourne, with its narrow laneways, great outlet pricing and the fun of the local markets. Outlet Shopping Tours offer two tours which encompass these treasures; see: www.outlet-shopping-tours.com.

Sydney is popular for its crammed CBD, cute suburban boutiques and café culture to rest between stores, as experienced with Chic in the City: www.chicinthecitytours.com.au.

And Brisbane is where high street precincts, factory outlets and vintage treasures excite the savviest of shoppers. Clients can join the hunt for Brisbane’s best bargain on the Warehouse Shopping Tours. (www.brisbaneshoppingtours.com.au).

Heading further afield options are endless – the USA offers fantastic value, Asia does markets like nowhere else in the world and Europe is where high fashion reigns supreme.

Head to Hong Kong during the summer sales (July and August each year) and expect up to 70 per cent off designer stores and high street honeys, then race to Beijing or Shanghai to explore the markets where everything goes for a song.

For any shopaholic, New York has it all. There’s designer wear at bargain-basement prices, distinct districts to express every kind of fashion sense and the Woodbury Common Outlets where taking a suitcase to the shops is a smart idea. Book the Woodbury Common tour with Grayline and receive a 10 per cent discount coupon on arrival (www.grayline.com).

Hightail to Europe and explore the decadence of Milan, fashion capital of the world. Check out Gucci, Prada and Cartier on Via Montenapoleone, stop by the monument to shopping at Rinascente and don’t miss the Saturday flea market at Fiera di Senigallia.

To aid selling a shopping tour, consider having an escort onboard who is a keen shopper themselves, has experienced the destination and knows tidbits that a first-timer wouldn’t. Agents could look to host themselves, or use a well-known shopper or local celebrity as the face of the package.

Here’s a checklist to make the flawless shopping holiday: 

1)       Find balance: Consider all shopping options - from a glamorous mall to a dusty antique store, from a bustling market to a small boutique – provide a taste of everything the destination has on offer.

2)       Great Mall of China: Don’t forget to include the sites that make that destination a tourist hot spot in the first place, it’s not all about shopping!

3)       Go native: Use local transport, find out where the locals like to shop and give a cultural spin to retail therapy.

4)       Optional extras: Tag in additional touring options that you can up-sell – be it a hidden spa with the perfect manicure, a restaurant that a first-timer couldn’t find or a night at a show – these all help round out the experience and make the tour more alluring.

Pictured: Scouring the markets in Sydney

Image courtesy of Tourism New South Wales