St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association

Placement organization

Name of organization: St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association
Town/city: Philipsburg
Country: Centraal Amerika & Caribbean
Website: http://www.shta.com

Student

Name of student: Zhane Bastiaanssen

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2013-2014

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Branche organization
Organization’s activities: Marketing, advocacy, training programs, etc.
Target group of the organization: Members, especially local businesses/ hotels/ restaurants/ shops
Company culture: Everyone in the office is equal and as a intern you are just as important as the other staff members. The SHTA is located in a small office, so easy communication and had good atmosphere.

Number of employees: 3
Dress code: formal
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Not in a specific department. The SHTA has a small office, so everybody does the work which is required at that moment.

Brief description of your daily activities: Most of the time you will be sitting behind your computer and work on different kind of tasks.
The general tasks are:
– Answering the phone, connecting calls, taking messages
– Sending out emails and email blasts to members and tourists
– Creating and sending out of newsletters
– Updating and adding content to www.shta.com
– Updating the Social Media Pages
– Collecting data for various purposes
– In charge of www.stmaartenauction.com including the updating and ensuring that auction winners pay and receive packages in a timely manner
– Assist office staff with assignments they might have.
Brief description of your company assignment: Customer satisfaction research about how members perceive the SHTA and what they expect from
the SHTA. Next to that also assist in organizing SMART 2014, which is a Trade Show event held every year.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Everyone is really kind and frequently ask how you are doing and are interested in you. They also let you work independently, however you can always ask questions.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? You should be flexible and be able to work independent as you would spend most of the day behind a computer. Stress they do not know here on-island, however being able to handle stressful situations could be helpful.
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS Office, especially Word and Excel are a must. Writing, oral and reading skills are also important. Since you are working with not only SHTA members but as well with tourists. Every other skill is an extra pre
English: Advanced
Spanish: Basic
French: Basic
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Internet and previous interns
How did you go to work every day? Public transport

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? No
Do you need a work permit? Not as a Dutch citizen
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): € 1000
Accommodation (monthly): € 400
Local transport (monthly): € 60 (depending on where you live)
General costs of living (monthly): € 200 (depends on style of living)
Costs of visa: €
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? Financial compensation of $450 per month

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I did not.
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? Not really. St. Maarten is really relaxed, and you have to have alot of patience.

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: zhabast@hotmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Just act normal, don’t do crazy things and you will be fine.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: There are quite a lot of things to do on St. Maarten. Such as different water sports, good nightlife, cinema, casinos and of course great beaches and shopping. It is also recommended to visit the surrounding islands, such as Saba (hiking), Anguilla (beautiful beaches, swim with Dolphins), St Barths (Jet set island).

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link