Malta Tourism Authority

Placement organization

Name of organization: Malta Tourism Authority
Town/city: Valletta
Country: Malta
Website: http://mta.com.mt

Student

Name of student: Kirsten Kuijt

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2013-2014

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tourism Board
Organization’s activities: •To promote and advance Malta as a tourism destination
•To advise Government on tourism operations and to issue licences under the Act
•To contribute toward the improvement of the level of human resources in the tourism industry
•To advise government on the planning and development of the tourism industry as well as on the infrastructure supporting the industry.

Target group of the organization: People coming to Malta & the Ministry for Tourism
Company culture: The work environment is pretty formal. There is also a hierarchy noticable. But the longer I work in the office, the less formal it gets.
Number of employees: ±100
Dress code: formal
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? I’m working in the MICE segment of the Marketing Department.
Brief description of your daily activities: Setting up & updating databases and excel sheets. Aswering the phone and taking messages. Providing administrative aid by filing information and email correspondences about events. Coordinating promotional material. Assisting in the operations of the MICE segment.
Brief description of your company assignment: I performed a content analysis about the Internation Fireworks Festival. This is an annual event and takes place in April. I was researching the promotion of this event to an overseas audience. To do this I conducted several interviews with people from the organisational committe.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Although my supervisor was nice she didn’t have much time to answer my questions and discuss my school assignments and company assignment. When I had a meeting planned with her she rescheduled many times. When she did have time she was very helpful. After three months my supervisor resigned.

Although my other colleagues are very busy sometimes they are always willing to help me.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent, patient, flexible
Additional company requirements for this placement? Word, Excel, PowerPoint
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? I arranged my placement through a previous student.
How did you go to work every day? Bus

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? No
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents: –
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? –
Did you need certain vaccinations? No
How long in advance? –

Language course

Did you take a language course before you started your placement? No
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? No

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € €230
Accommodation (monthly): € €300
Local transport (monthly): € €26
General costs of living (monthly): € €300
Costs of visa: € –
Costs of work permit: € –
What did the company pay for/to you? One time payment of €300

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I did not really prepare, only some reading about the country on the internet.
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? No

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: kirstenkuijt@live.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: – During your placement: Be patient and flexible but also stand up for yourself
– By a bus card for a month, that is cheaper than paying every day in the bus (you have to hand in a copy of your placement agreement and your passport or id card).

Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: – Valletta: nice shops and some nice bars and restaurants (mostly in the small streets where you would’n look at first)
– Sliema : Nice place to shop (the point shopping centre ) and to have a drink or go out for dinner
– St.Julians: lot’s of restaurants and the nightlife area is located in St. Julians.
– Gozo & Comino: nice to visit once or twice

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link