The Travel Agent Guide
The Travel Agent Guide is a podcast created for travel advisors at every stage of their journey.
Each episode shares practical tips, real-world experiences, and honest conversations about building a successful travel advisor business—from client boundaries and workflows to marketing, growth, and sustainability.
Whether you’re new to the industry or looking to refine how you work, this podcast is here to help you work smarter, feel more confident, and grow with intention.
The Travel Agent Guide
5 Ungoogleable Upscale Gems in Greece with Kosta Sourvanos
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In this episode of The Travel Agent Guide Podcast, we’re heading to Greece with special guest Kostas Sourvanos from Travelive to explore a side of the destination that goes beyond the places your clients already know.
Greece may immediately bring Athens, Mykonos, and Santorini to mind, but there is so much more to discover. From meaningful local connections and heritage experiences to incredible landscapes and lesser-known islands, this conversation is all about helping travel advisors confidently sell Greece through experiences that feel personal, authentic, and unforgettable.
Join us as Kosta shares his destination expertise, five "ungoogleable" upscale gems, and practical insights advisors can use to create more customized Greece itineraries for their clients.
Timestamp:
00:00:00 – Opening Preview
00:00:36 – Travel Agent Guide Intro
00:00:57 – Meet Costa & Travelive
00:02:13 – Costa’s Background & Love for Travel
00:04:08 – Planning a First Trip to Greece
00:06:15 – Athens & the Private Acropolis Experience
00:08:25 – Athens as a Base for Exploring Greece
00:08:58 – Mykonos: More Than Nightlife
00:09:50 – Santorini: Avoiding the Crowds & Authentic Experiences
00:11:06 – Crete: A Destination of Its Own
00:12:22 – Suggested 10- & 12-Night Greece Itineraries
00:13:01 – Why Travel Advisors Should Work With a DMC
00:14:36 – Hidden Gem #1: The Peloponnese
00:16:21 – Creating a Meaningful Heritage Trip
00:18:33 – The “Memory Maker” Every Trip Needs
00:20:19 – Hidden Gem #2: Milos
00:22:08 – Hidden Gem #3: Kefalonia & the Ionian Islands
00:25:06 – Hidden Gem #4: Naxos
00:26:53 – Hidden Gem #5: Epirus & Vikos Gorge
00:27:45 – Why Greece Is a Year-Round Destination
00:30:50 – Recap: 5 Hidden Upscale Gems in Greece
00:32:55 – Key Takeaways for Travel Advisors
00:33:34 – What Makes Travelive Different
00:36:24 – Travel Agent Guide Event Reminder
00:36:53 – Closing & Outro
Whether you’re planning your first Greece itinerary or looking for something new for repeat travelers, this episode will help you go into your next consultation with more confidence, better destination knowledge, and fresh ideas your clients probably haven’t discovered on their own.
Greece is so much more than checking famous islands off a list. It’s about finding the places, people, and experiences that make your clients feel genuinely connected to the destination.
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travel I is you get such a great opportunity to connect with amazing advisors such as yourself. And just you know uncovering what kind of unique experiences uh we can offer clients and create an experience, you know, and especially being in it pre-COVID and then after COVID, you've seen such a difference in the type of traveler and how much more evolved. And nowadays it's more about creating a unique experience. It's about connecting with the destination you're going with. So for me it's it's it's yeah it's it's been really fun.
SPEAKER_00Welcome to the travel agent guide the podcast pulling back the curtain and what it really takes to be a travel agent. We're talking real life the challenges the wins the money the mistakes and the growth whether you've been in the travel industry for years or new to it, we're in this together and you're exactly where you need to be okay and welcome to today's episode of the travel agent guide. Today we are switching up things a little bit um Bert is not with us on today's episode but I do have a special guest that I'm really excited to get the opportunity to interview. Some of you may know Cosa Cervanos with Travel Live. If not today you will get a good chance to understand COSA and what Travel Live has to offer. This episode is going to be all about Greece. So rather than covering every destination we want to inspire travelers with an authentic experience that the idea is today, after today's episode you're gonna get off of here, feel really good going into a consultation with a client in sell Greece. That is today's plan. So let's go ahead and welcome Kosa to the podcast. Kosa has over a decade of experience and Kosa brings encyclopedic knowledge of Greece with a sixth cents for travelers' needs and a passion for uncovering ungoogle upscale gems. He is the director of sales at Travelive and has been a key to shaping the growing celebrated Greece portfolio. So welcome to the episode Kosa I'm happy to have you thank you so much. Awesome to be here yeah so first we're gonna dive in get the opportunity to meet Kosa a little bit um so yeah Kosa go ahead and share a little bit about yourself with us.
SPEAKER_01Well uh I was born in Athens Greece but I guess I kind of got first acquainted with traveling and that five years old uh with my parents due to my father's job he was a diplomat we packed up and left we went to Kenya in Africa so I got you know the first taste of travel a completely different culture uh just amazing landscape and scenery uh from there we've lived in Atlanta Georgia and in Beijing so I've uh while I was born here I've lived abroad I returned back because I was homesick and have been living in Greece since I was 25 years old. So you could say I'm kind of an expat here as well in a sense. So that's where I first fell in love with travel. I just love traveling getting acquainted with new cultures it's really the best way it expands your knowledge and gives you such a wider you know breadth of knowledge and just experience of the world. So that's that's briefly me in a nutshell uh the thing that I love about working in travel is you get such a great opportunity to connect with amazing advisors such as yourself and just you know uncovering what kind of unique experiences uh we can offer clients and create an experience you know and especially being in it pre-COVID and then after COVID you've seen such a difference in the type of traveler and how much more evolved and nowadays it's more about creating a unique experience it's about connecting with the destination you're going with so for me it's it's it's yeah it's it's been really fun.
SPEAKER_00Fantastic I love your passion to share your country with travelers I think that's huge. Um how long have you been in the travel industry Costa?
SPEAKER_01So for a little over 10 years. Okay.
SPEAKER_00Nice um all right super impressive all right so let's kind of dive in I really want today's focus to be about five ungoogle upscale gems right so the idea is to understand really off the beaten path authentic Greece experiences. But I do want to take a couple minutes first and start off with kind of understanding first time travelers to Greece. I don't know about everybody listening but for myself a lot of my clients that I have go to Greece it truly is their first trip. It's that bucketless trip that they want to do I have had the opportunity to book um a repeat trip for clients to Greece. So that's why I'm excited to dive into the you know hidden gems.
SPEAKER_01So let's go ahead and start there um Costa what for first time traveler to Greece let's talk about a couple destinations kind of what a preferred itinerary would be and why okay well I mean you could a good jumping point would be let's say the quintessential Athens Mikonus and Santrini but at the same time I'm very hesitant to say that there's one size fits all because there really isn't while those will while those are going to be kind of let's say the usual suspects the must-sees the highlights the gems um not necessarily as well because each traveler you know has their own preferences their own style their own interests each destination in Greece I firmly believe has its own distinct character and unique offerings that are gonna pair better let's say for foodies as opposed to more active people that want more nightlife or a more vibrant sense. So this is why and we strongly recommend this at TravelIve you pick up the phone you know call us because with so many I mean you guys sell the world we're destination experts here. I'm based in Athens Greece with all of our team this is what makes us unique we know the hotels we know the tours that we're selling so please do reach out ideally either by yourselves or even better if you'd like with you and your clients we can get through a conversation you know further delve into what kind of experience they want and then customize fully and creating around that experience. So I'll go into the let's say the what are known as the highlights Athens is definitely definitely a must it is not to be skipped under any circumstance we now have an increased number of direct flights into Athens making it more accessible than ever within Athens of course the Acropolis is going to be a must and just to quickly say something I'm very excited about in the past few years we are able to do the Acropolis private either before or after opening hours to the public I have had the pleasure and privilege of going up there and it's I can't explain it. I mean I have pictures but they don't do it justice. I went on the after hours so it was 8 to 10 p.m is the after hours the before opening hours would be 6 to 8 p.m 6 to 8 a.m excuse me like how amazing is that right in the middle of you know peak season and just having the Acropolis private. I mean Haley I can't I can't really put it into words you could hear a pin drop it's so quiet and just the views you know you get to see with sunset that I get that I got to see you get to see the change in colors it's so peaceful. And just the thought alone that you're standing in this majestic site that dates back to thousand years ago and you're you have it private you know all to yourself. I do want to note on that uh point that while it is private it can be limited it is uh for up to groups of five and for up to four groups of five but each of the times that we've done it at least it's been we've we've had it all private to ourselves. So Athens uh just to continue from there is an absolute must for the Acropolis if you know your clients have the budget for it, I would strongly recommend doing it private. And it doesn't cost an arm and a leg either it would be at uh 10K and that would be gross with 15% commission included for you guys. And you know if you if you stop and think that you know people would spend that in a luxury villa or a very high-end hotel, which yes you can do or to me at least you could you know say that you got to see the Acropolis private and that's for me one of the that would be just bragging rights in full in Greece. And not only that but Greece Athens is a great uh destination just as a jumping point and as a base. So from Athens you could do a day trip to the ancient site of Delphi you could do a day trip to the northeastern Peloponnese or even to the car free island of Hydra which is like kind of traveling like back in time with beautiful stone mansions. So there's so much to do and see not to even make mention if you have repeat clients or clients with an extended stay you could even break up the stay in Athens and end with let's say a two night stay at the Athenian Riviera. So you get the beach run stay. So from there I guess I would segue to Mikonos would be a destination that everybody knows. It would I mean if we didn't you know if we had clients that just said we want to let's say party but not only if we wanted great beaches it's a renowned world renowned destination. People have it in mind as a destination for jet set travelers more vibrant but it has gone through a rebranding if you will in the last few years there's a lot more to Mikonos than meets the eye. We have beautiful traditional villages we have a great jeep safari there that goes completely off the beaten path. So there's so much to do and see and not to mention that also just approximately a 20 minute boat ride for Mikonos is the amazing UNESCO World Heritage site of Zilos Island. It's a completely uninhabited island and just a beautiful island for anybody you know remotely concerned in uh into history uh Santorini always comes to mind and you know it's not to be missed in my opinion it's people have been saying recently oh you know it's overcrowded or maybe it's to be skipped in my opinion no and the one reason to come work with us as as a DMC is that we'll know where to have your clients stay if they want completely peaceful stay, you know, far from the crowds we have hotels where we can have them stay at we also know what time of year is going to be best what types of experiences to include there's a lot of traditional villages there. There's the ancient site of Akrotiri in the southern part of the island which is akin to our Pompeii so there's a lot of unique and authentic experiences in San Trini to be had in tandem of course with kind of the wow renowned experiences. Some of our travelers' best experiences that I've noted are wine tasting in San Trini's very unique wineries and the even more unique volcanic wine production there. And of course a cruise around the caldera is an absolute must it gives you a different perspective and feel on the island. One other destination that I'm gonna go ahead and add that's an absolute must but for me is beautiful because it kind of has everything for every type of traveler is Crete. Crete is our largest island but more so than an island it's a destination onto itself you could even have travelers and we have had travelers stay there for a 12 night stay they could split it up between three parts of the island uh if we have extended seas we usually tend to do up to two or three stays uh destinate destinations within the islands different parts of the islands so that travelers get a different perspective and from east to west north to south you do get a different perspective so think some of Greece's best traditional villages perched up in you know the mountainside uh some of the most beautiful uh gorges including the longest gorge in all of Europe in the western part of Crete in Samaria gorge some of the most beautiful instagrammable beaches are featured there and some of Greece's best olive oil wine and cuisine actually depending on what type of Greek you ask you're gonna get that the best olive oil and wine belongs in in Crete some are going to argue for the Peloponnese but I'll I'll leave that up for to people to decide. Yeah yeah so those would be kind of a good quintessential starting point for interchangeably there a 10 night itinerary uh so that we have enough time in each destination to you know explore the main sites but you also want to make sure that you have enough downtime as well. So for a 10 night itinerary I I guess I would say Athens, Mekonos and Centrini for a 12 night Athens Mekonos Centrini and uh Crete. But again please do reach out with as much information as possible or just to jump on a call to get acquainted we may find out that you know your clients want to go in a completely different direction. Like I said there's no one size that fits all.
SPEAKER_00Yeah I can speak to working with Kosa. I know one of my first trips to Greece I used Travelive and it was a big trip. It was like a 14 day trip it was three or four islands. It was a lot and I didn't know much about it. I know Kosa got on the phone and I'm pretty sure he walked me through it from start to finish for about 45 minutes. So I was able to gain that I at that point I was a little like oh do I bring a DMC into the call but if you guys have listened to the podcast we actually did an episode on why bring in a DMC to the conversation only helps elevate you as a travel advisor. So don't be afraid to do that right Cosa and his team are the true experts and there's nothing wrong with telling your clients this is my partner and letting them lean on that. Travelive only works with travel agents, right? So it's not like they can just go right to them direct or anything like that. So I highly recommend um you know bringing a DMC into a call with any client just to you know they feel good, right? There's multiple people working on their trip and that that just makes them feel confident in it altogether. Another thing I just want to throw out there is at Sava Travel we do bring in DMCs weekly to do destination deep dives. So Travel Live has come in to our team so you know if you don't have this information then you want to make sure you're getting into these destination deep dives. Contact a DMC ask them if they can hop in a call with you at any time so you can learn more about their product but also the destination. All right so are you ready to dive in Cosa to five ungoogle upscale gems in in Greece?
SPEAKER_01Yes absolutely okay and just on that point uh I'll start off with the Peloponnese for a variety of reasons. So the Peloponnese for me is similar to Crete it's a destination onto itself. You have five of Greece's 20 UNESCO World Heritage sites there for anybody interested in history and culture. Beautiful traditional villages also great destination for any active travelers as well beautiful gorgeous great hiking trails. There's a beautiful hiking trail at the very southernmost point of mainland Europe in Tenaron in the very southern part of the Peloponnese again as I was saying before depending on what Greek you ask you're gonna get that some of Greece's well Greece's best olive oil and wine is interchangeably either going to be in Crete or in the Peloponnese. So it's a beautiful destination it's gonna get a special I I'm hoping it's gonna gain even more traction now with Chris Nolan's The Odyssey coming out with parts of it being filmed in the southwest part of Crete in the what you guys might know is the the area of Pilosan where the Costa Navarino hotels are including Greece's first Mandarin Oriental and also in the northeast part of Greece we have Greece's Amanzoi Greece's Amman property. So it's also a great destination for ultralux travelers but at the same time this is what this is the beauty of what I love about the Peloponnese you could be staying in an ultralux property such as the Amman or Mandarin Oriental but the experiences you're going to have are going to have you connecting with locals connecting with the destination. It's such an authentic destination that has retained its local uh character and heritage and on that note just you know to further put into context why a phone call can help um some years ago I had an advisor reach out you know he said uh at clients with uh third generation Greek Americans and they wanted to connect with their family and with their heritage in the Peloponnese so getting on a call helped with with him and he gave me uh the name of the village it turned out to be a village in the Peloponnese with just 50 inhabitants he said is there any way we could get possible get in touch with them uh and try to open up a local church there so that they could gather with the hope of connecting with relatives so we were able to do that we got the lead traveler involved just to and we and this is why the call helps it you know aside from any great hotel or these amazing experiences that we put together this trip for them was a heritage trip it meant connecting with the relatives and I'm very pleased to say that we were able to open up the church it was the day after Christmas that they went there. They managed to gather all the inhabitants they had a beautiful lunch outside uh the church in a local taverna and the agent wrote back to me and said they were in tears. This was by far their most meaningful and a trip that they could connect with and it really helped because there was no way without a call that we could have gotten to that level of detail. One because it was a multi-gen family one of the travelers was into um chicklic art so we were able to arrange a trip to the Museum of Kickladic art in Athens. So there was just all this level of detail in multiple pieces. So we've had I've had uh I've had travelers with agents say oh you know they're into military history. So it's about reaching out and finding that guide that's going to specialize in that or they want the experience to be you know they're gonna connect with that one local experience. So it's jumping on a call really helps. And I just wanted to highlight that very special uh experience that we were able to prepare for that family.
SPEAKER_00Creating those high touch experiences, Cosa, I'm telling you that's why clients come back. I every trip that we plan or at Sava, I try to tell all the advisors, right? We say go into every trip with what we like to call a memory maker that one experience that leaves your clients in this emotion and they cry and they're they're just completely moved by what they're doing because they never truly thought it was a possibility. So I think that's a way to connect with your clients through travel and finding partners that make it happen is even better, right? So I love that story. That's the best part of travel and when I get those calls from my clients when they come home that's what just lights me. That's what keeps me staying in this career, right?
SPEAKER_01Absolutely I mean being here travel live now for so many years, I can we've created ultra lux itineraries we've done you know we've like I said we've done trips private Acropolis we've done helicopter uh day trips from Athens to Meteora the majestic monasteries at Meteora where clients can see those amazing monasteries perched on those unique formations from the comfort of their helicopter and these are all great experiences but it's really these meaningful experiences that that are going to remain for clients that for me it's it's what you said it really you know makes what we do so special. And if you you know stop and think about it that this this could be the trip of a lifetime for these travelers they may have been waiting this whole year saving up for it to just have this meaningful experience. So it really does make what we do all the more meaningful.
SPEAKER_00I love that all right so moving on to the second ungoogle upscale gem um what would that be for you Costa?
SPEAKER_01I would I'm gonna go with uh one of arguably my favorite island I don't like to you know put an absolute but it's gonna be the island of Milos I love love milos I could talk for hours at end about Milos I've been five times Milos is in the Cicladic Islands it's kind of on the southwestern part of the Cicladic Islands if you will it's a beautiful island that has some of the most stunning landscape and scenery I've seen my favorite would have to be the lunar like landscape at Sarakinico you can Google it to see I don't think I have some pictures that I've gone for many times it has to be seen to be believed the pictures do not do it justice. Aside from that you have these beautiful colorful fishing villages such as um the colorful fishing village of Klima you have Greece's catacombs are located there you have again great food great uh cuisine to be found there and also uh beautiful uh sea caves at Kleftiko to be seen so a cruise is going to be one of the best experiences you can have there it's a beautiful island and while it has gained traction and kind of cats out of the bag it's still a time to go before in I think another five years max it's gonna be you know it's gonna be in everybody I would say plan to go as soon as possible before more hotels which we're hearing are are building there.
SPEAKER_00Okay good yeah I've I know we've sent tons of clients to Milo's yes we have I I so now I now I know why right uh which I love um yes I have yet to be the Milos, so that's definitely high on my list. Um, all right, so diving into the third on Google upscale gem. What with that?
SPEAKER_01I I love the Ionian Islands, uh, and especially I'm gonna go with Kefalunya here. Um, this is gonna be located, this is gonna be located in the northwestern part of Greece, if you will, or or the western part of Greece, technically speaking. So these islands are gonna offer a lush counterpart to the Cecladic Islands, which tend to have that kind of more barren beauty. These are very green islands, they usually tend to be more mountainous, they tend to be, like I said, and you have more of the Venetian feel there and the architecture. So Kefalonia is the largest of these islands, the highest peak of the Ionian Islands is to be found there. And what was recently voted as the world's second uh most beautiful beach in Fteri Beach is located there. Um, which actually, case in point, the first beach was actually in the Philippines. I actually recently had the pleasure of going to the Philippines. I went there, and one of our one of our the next video series that I have a video series that I've launched, which is Greece in 60 seconds, is gonna be the world's first beach versus the world's second beach. And I want to hear from all of you and what your thoughts are.
SPEAKER_00What's the name? What's the name of the beach in Cafalonia?
SPEAKER_01The beach in Cafalonia is Fteri Beach. F-T-E-R-I.
SPEAKER_00F-T-E-R-I?
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Yeah. All right, good to know. Fun fact, everybody listening. The second world's most beautiful beach is in Catalan. Okay. Fiteri. Okay.
SPEAKER_01Great. And just again, you have uh you have one of the best beaches in the world, also uh located there, one of the most insignible, I should say, in Mirtos Beach. You have the hidden caves at Melisani and Drogarati, which are just beautiful and have to be seen. Um, and again, just beautiful uh villages. From the north to the south, you get a completely different feel. I'd been there a couple of years ago for four nights. I try to split my stay up and realize that I just have to go back and see it again and again because from north to south, and because of the distances involved, you really do need an extended stay. So similar to Crete, you would need to pick one if you had a four-night stay, just one part of the island, and kind of explore from there. If we have, let's say, a seven, eight nights stay, you could do you know, you could divide and do the north and southern part of the island. And the north part of the island has two gorgeous villages and Fiscardo and Asos, which almost have like this very Italian feel to them and just gorgeous, you know. Like I said, it's it's it's a very lush island, so it's gonna give you a different perspective of of Greece.
SPEAKER_00I a lot of the Ionian islands are highly influenced from Italy, right?
SPEAKER_01Yes, correct. Because of the proximity as well, especially.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, exactly. Okay, beautiful. Um, all right. So what would be the fourth on Google upscale gem?
SPEAKER_01Hmm, that's gonna be that's gonna be a good one. I'm gonna go with uh the island of Naxos, which I love. It's the largest of the Kicladic Islands, just jumping back to the Kicladic Islands. Um, and it has everything as well, from beautiful villages, especially in the mountainside. You have very good local cuisine there. Uh, some of Greece's best local products can be found there is in the local Grovier cheese and local potatoes that they're known for. And also Greece's only citron production is to be found there. You have the majestic uh Portara, which is the iconic Temple of Apollo, greeting you, a very beautiful and well-preserved old town. Uh, great for hikers as well, similar to Crete and the Peloponnese. You have amazing hiking trails and home also to the highest peak of the Cacladic Islands as well, and just beautiful cruises to be do to be done there as well. The beauty of Naxos, similar to Paros, is it's located centrally in the Cacladic Islands. So it's a good base for day trips to nearby untouched islands, which is what we can do there.
SPEAKER_00Awesome. Awesome. I love that. Um Naxos, right? So I definitely it's close proximity to Paros, right? Can you ferry pretty easily between that?
SPEAKER_01Easily, easily. So what when people say they want, you know, more bang for buck or to explore another island, you could even, as opposed to doing packing or non-packing, which I'm not a big fan of, and you know, two night stays here and there, you could just base yourself in one island in either Anaxos or Pados and do a day trip to the other. It's just a half an hour ferry ride. And it makes it totally, you know, totally doable.
SPEAKER_00Okay, love that. All right. So diving into the fifth ungoogle upscale gem.
SPEAKER_01Um in my background, I have uh the world's deepest gorge in Vikos Gorge. And this is located in the north kind of western part of Greece in the beautiful, very underrated, very mostly untouched by mass tourism, uh, Ipiros region. So this is just one striking, very striking highlight. Like I'd been, I'd been there a couple of years ago and I went up to this beautiful vantage point, and just the views are breathtaking. I mean, this is a beautiful picture, but just to stand there and amaze and awe at this stunning, you know, uh gorge, it's just I can't put it really into words.
SPEAKER_00What what island is the gorge on, Costa?
SPEAKER_01Oh, this isn't this isn't an island. This is going, sorry, this is going on the mainland Greece in the northwestern part of Greece. Yeah. That's that's for me one of the advantages of Greece. It's it's really a year-round destination. I know, you know, Greece has been heavily advertised for so many years as a summer destination, as the islands. And it it absolutely is, don't get me wrong. We have beautiful summers with a record amount of sunshine, beautiful seas, and the islands really are stunning. There's no other uh way of it. But um, but more than that, it is a year-round destination from the Peloponnese, from the western part of Greece, which you can also visit uh during Christmas, and which I I was there actually over Christmas, all the way to the north part of Greece or even mainland Greece. It's a year-round destination. Uh the hotels, the sites are totally accessible. And and if anything, if anybody you know wants history and culture, does not want you know the hot summer months and just wants a completely different experience, I would say come experience Greece in anywhere from off season from October to April just for a different experience. And especially if you have repeat travelers that want a different experience, want to connect with the history and culture, you can come in those months and from the Peloponnese, like I said, to the north of Greece, you get fantastic landscapes, great historical architectural sites. So back to the amazing uh destination of Metsovo Ipiros, this region here, a fantastic destination for anybody that wants to connect with scenery and landscape. Think amazing uh lakes, gorges, uh, one of the biggest forested areas in all of Greece in Valia Calda, which we do an amazing Jeep Safari through. We have truffle hunting deep in the forests that we do here. Uh, we can do an amazing uh dinner or lunch experience at the peak of one of the highest mountains, which is completely private, which I have a picture I can share with you all afterwards, which is just amazing. But just and this area, I guess I would say as again, if you could have anywhere from a four to seven night stay, ideally, in my experience, because again, similar to what we were saying about Athens earlier, that it can also be used as a base. This can be used as a base. You could do a day trip to the majestic monasteries of Meteora, which is approximately an hour's drive from here, or to the beautiful uh city of Ioannina, which has a lovely lake and a beautiful nearby island. There's just so much to do and see in this area.
SPEAKER_00So you're saying for everybody listening, if your client wants to go to Greece, you can definitely plan an amazing Greece trip um outside the months of May through October, right? Absolutely. Absolutely. That's good to know. I think a lot of us are always saying peak season is this. And, you know, of course, people want to go swimming, um, which we get, right? So that's good to know. I am an off-season traveler that when I go to Europe, I like to do it off season.
SPEAKER_01Amazing.
SPEAKER_00It's just kind of my jam, right? Um, I love that. I think those are some five incredible experiences, and I just want to recap them and highlight them again. Um, so everybody listening, Cosa's five on Google um upscale gems that he's talking about today. Um, Peloponnese, where it is very off-the-beaten path. You're hanging out with more locals than you are tourists. Um, and a lot of heritage trips go to Peloponnese area, right? Um, Milos, which is Kosa's personal favorite. Um, lunar light landscape. I need to go look this up right now and get familiar with it because I feel like I'm not super educated on it. So I'm excited to see more about that. Um, then he talked about the Ionian Islands and Cafalonia. And Cosa, my pronunciation may be way off, so please don't be afraid to do that. Pronunciation is beautiful. It's spot on Cafalonia. You said it. Okay, beautiful. Um, so there is the second most beautiful beach in the world. Fateri. How do you say that, Kosas?
SPEAKER_01Fateri, it's a bit of a tongue twister.
SPEAKER_00Okay, all right. So definitely excited to look that up as well. Um, then we talk about Naxos, which is has some of the best landscapes centrally located, lots of hiking. And was it the temples of Apollo that you talked about?
SPEAKER_01The temple of Apollo, yes.
SPEAKER_00Awesome. And then for the fifth one, it is Epirus, right?
SPEAKER_01The Ipirus region with the main beautiful mountainside town of Metovo. Okay.
SPEAKER_00We have an amazing hotel, and just pictured right behind me, Vicos Gorge, which so Vico's Gorge is the lore, uh, the world's deepest gorgeous forge. Okay, which is pretty amazing. Um, so I am definitely a traveler who the landscape is everything to me. I think seeing that's what moves me and brings me to tears when you sit there and just look and you're like, wow, you're incomplete.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, yeah, I think getting to Greece is definitely high on my list and it needs to be sooner than later for sure. Um, well, thank you so much, Cosa, for you know taking the time to give us a deep dive and some amazing, unique experience. My pleasure. So for every advisor listening, I hope you grabbed a pen and paper, wrote this down. Um, you know, going into your next consultation, feel confident knowing some really unique things to mention to your clients. And don't be afraid to have the DMC come into the call with you, whether that's Cosa or her team, um, his team for Greece, please do that. Um, lastly, I just want to take a minute. And Kosa, if you want to just tell us a little bit about Travelive, what makes it different um as far as DMCs go? Because I know there is a plethora of DMCs in Greece.
SPEAKER_01Yes. So we are, I would start by saying that we are local experts. We're locally based in each of our destinations. We are a collection of 11 DMCs. So I, with my team, I'm based in Athens, Greece, and that goes by extension to each of our destinations. We're all native English speakers or expats, and we're also, while we're locally based, one of the biggest advantages I would say is that we're also available until US Eastern time. So we are in the office until 3 p.m. Eastern. So you can jump on a call and you know, we can advise in real time for you. That that would be one thing for us. We have an amazing 24-7 support and concierge department that's on hand to assist your clients while they're traveling. So you're not getting calls at 2, 3 in the morning. Uh, we're here, we'll keep you in the loop and obviously, you know, um, email you with whatever's happened. Um, aside from that, I would say also we don't require any minimum. So we can work with a tour and transfer. It doesn't have to be all in when working with us. So if you prefer to book the hotels direct, that's totally fine. We work with either euro or USD, net or gross. It's entirely up to you. If it's gonna, I I mean, our usual operating model is gonna be USD with 15% commission included for you, but we have full flexibility. It's all entirely designed to make it easier for you guys. Uh, you don't have to chase us for invoices. Um, we pay out commission promptly 10 to 14 days after the completion of clients' trips. We have an amazing groups department. We do shore excursions as well. So there's there's quite a lot. These are just some of the advantages of working with us. Uh, but but like Haley said, please do reach out. I know that we've covered a lot of ground here and there's so much to go over. And I know I've given you guys a lot to think about here. So for any further information, please do reach out.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And for our Sava Travel Advisors, we'll be having a deep dive, um, a little more in depth, hopefully in the coming month, and we can bring Costa back in and talk about Greece. So I'm super excited. Um, all right. And another thing too, I absolutely love your blog posts. Um, so one blog post I want to kind of put out there was the unveiling of the Ionian Islands with Costas. I know you can sign up for like email reminders. Um, also their website, you can find them. Um, I love blog posts, I find them insanely informational. And I think sharing blog posts with your clients is super helpful to your business um and just kind of points them in the right direction. Um, so I just want to say thank you so much for your time today, Costa. It was uh thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_01Thank you.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, of course. Um, and until next time, listeners, and just a quick reminder if you have not secured your ticket for our live travel agent guide event, um, just a reminder it is November 6th in Charlotte, North Carolina. So be sure to do that now. We do have tickets. Um, our ticket sales are intentionally small, so we do not want you to miss out. Um, go to our Facebook group, the Travel Agent Guide, for more information. All right, see y'all soon. Well, that's a wrap for this week's episode of the Travel Agent Guide Podcast. If you got value from today's conversation, do me a favor, hit subscribe, leave a review, and share it with another travel advisor. Your support helps us reach more advisors and continue growing this amazing community. Don't forget to join our Facebook group, the Travel Agent Guide. And until next Wednesday, keep taking action, keep growing, and keep chasing those big goals. See you in the next episode.