Bahamas Tourist Office

Placement organization

Name of organization: Bahamas Tourist Office
Town/city: London
Country: Groot-Brittannië
Website: http://www.bahamas.co.uk

Student

Name of student: Kryschja Bruls

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2014-2015

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tourism board
Organization’s activities: Bahamas Tourist Office is part of the organizational chart of the Ministry of Tourism which is situated in Nassau, The Bahamas. BTO London is responsible for all the Sales & Marketing in Europe which can be divided in three categories: Consumers, trade and public relations. The markets BTO London focusses on are the UK, Ireland, The Netherlands and Scandinavia. London is the headquarters of the European offices: France, Italy, Germany, Russia and the office in China.
Target group of the organization: British, Irish, Scandinavian and Dutch Market
Company culture: Formal
Number of employees: 2
Dress code: formal
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Marketing & Sales department
Brief description of your daily activities: – Answering the phone
– Dealing with trade and consumer requests
– Monitoring info@bahamas.co.uk: answering questions, despatching brochures
– Assisting monitoring the UK budget
– Preparing and attending consumer/trade shows
– Answering to trade and media requests
– Smaller assignments in order to help the others
Brief description of your company assignment: Producing a new Bahamas dive brochure. Therefore all dive centres and liveaboards in The Bahamas had to be contacted in order to receive up to date information about, for example, the number of instructors and the types of dives provided.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: There is supervision in the office: Both colleagues will answer your questions if you have any. Sometimes you have to work individually because the others are working out of the office.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Social, independent, confident, flexible
Additional company requirements for this placement? Microsoft Word and Excel, communication skills
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane (although everything is possible)

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? I found it through the Facebook page: NL Borrel in London
How did you go to work every day? Underground and by foot – I needed approximately 40 minutes from home to work

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): € €90,-
Accommodation (monthly): € 850,- in a shared flat
Local transport (monthly): € €125,-
General costs of living (monthly): € €250,- depending on the way you live and the currency rate
Costs of visa: €
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? £5,- lunch vouchers per working day. The vouchers can be spent in the supermarket, Starbucks, fastfood chains and a number of restaurants.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I did not prepare because I did not expect the British culture to be any different than the Dutch culture.
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: No
My e-mail address: 121244@edu.nhtv.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Apply for a Student Oyster Card on www.tfl.gov.uk and save up to 30% on your travels.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: There is always something going on in London so you will probably never get bored. However, if you’d like to escape from the big city, go on a trip to Oxford, Manchester, Brighton, Bath and/or Stonehenge. If you prefer not to travel that far you can also try the surroundings of London: Richmond Park is beautiful!
If you like to experience the British culture: Go to a pub and watch the rugby, football or horse racing games.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link