This is a prime time for your shopaholic clients to visit Paris. They can take advantage of the annual winter sales that run from January 12 through February 15, when store prices are slashed up to 70 percent.
For the past five years the City of Light has thrown a four-day shopping "fête" called "Soldes by Paris" to kick off the great winter sales. From January 12 to 15, over 300 participating hotels, restaurants, boutiques and tour operators will offer visitors extra discounts, gifts and bonuses. The hotels, for example, are discounting their room rates up to 50 percent during that period or longer.
The Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau, along with participating establishments, are distributing the complimentary Shopping Book to visitors, which features all the special offers and discounts, plus seven themed shopping itineraries throughout the city with names like Bobo-Chic or Ethic-Ethnic. Cool tech touch: Shoppers can download a new free iTune app that features the seven itineraries, a Paris map with GPS positioning, and over 500 boutiques, restaurants and city sites.
The information is also available online at www.shoppingbyparis.com.