biss-Aktivreisen

Placement organization

Name of organization: biss-Aktivreisen
Town/city: Berlin
Country: Duitsland
Website: http://www.biss-reisen.de

Name of student: Nina Hirschinger

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2014-2015

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: tour operator
Organization’s activities: The tour operator is operating since 1985 and specialised in designing, marketing, selling, and also guiding active holiday tours to Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The sustainable holiday trips are a well-balanced mix between physical activity (trekking/hiking, biking, horse-riding) and experiencing the destination-country’s culture and history. An authentic, unique and natural exprience is what is important to the tour operator.
Target group of the organization: German speaking customers from either Germany, Austria or Switzerland who are interested into Eastern Europe and/or Asia. People who prefer authentic and active holiday to rather exotic destinations and want to experience the country’s culture in an intense way. The people travelling with biss-Aktivreisen are usually aged between 35-65 and are often following an academic profession due to the prices of their products.
Company culture: The company culture is casual and friendly. As it is a small-scale company, everyone gets adressed by there first name without the existence of hierarchy-related artificial politeness. Good manners and natural politeness is what counts here.
Number of employees: 3
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Mainly marketing but I also got an insight into all different departments and operations.
Brief description of your daily activities: – Social media marketing & online marketing
– Newsletter design including research beforehand, deciding on contents and all
– Taking care of daily operations such as answering phone calls, handling customer requests, contacting partners
– Competitor analysis
– Taking care of documents
Brief description of your company assignment: The company assignment was supposed to be a marketing plan for an upcoming Estonia bicycle tour that has not been designed yet. However the topic slightly changed into rather being a competitor analysis, plus feasibility study, combined.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: The supervision by the organization was sufficient however sometimes I missed clear instructions, such as for the company assignment for example. Other than that, my supervisor tried to help whenever necessary but mainly let me work independantly.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? independent, flexible,
Additional company requirements for this placement? writing skills, SEO, MS Office
English: Basic
Spanish:
French:
German: Mother tongue
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: bus or car

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? myself
How did you go to work every day? bicycle

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? Yes
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? No, in case you are German

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 60
Accommodation (monthly): € 350
Local transport (monthly): € 40
General costs of living (monthly): € 350
Costs of visa: € 0
Costs of work permit: € 0
What did the company pay for/to you? Financial compensation: 200€ per month

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I did not prepare at all, as I am German myself
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: ninahirschinger@gmx.de

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Get a bike, it is convenient to ride one in Berlin! Explore the city!
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Berlin is a place with endless possibilities and you surely won’t get bored in this city. One minus point is that the proper (and cool) clubs usually have a quite high entrance fee from 10-12€, plus the drinks you need to pay for. So a night out might empty your pockets sooner than you had hoped for, every once in a while it is great fun though. Moreover there are also lots of other and cheaper things to do in your freetime like a stroll around flea markets (Mauerpark-Flohmarkt, Boxhagener Platz for example, every district has some to offer on sundays), vegetable markets, museums, chilling in one of Berlin’s pretty parks, having a picnic at the Tempelhofer Feld (abandoned airport) etc. etc.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link