Andalucia Tours and Discovery

Placement organization

Name of organization: Andalucia Tours and Discovery
Town/city: Seville
Country: Spanje
Website: http://atdspain.com

Name of student: Isabelle van der Schaft

Specialist area: MT
Placement period: 2015-2016

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Touristic company, organising tours in Andalucia
Organization’s activities: The company organise mostly bike tours trough the cities of Andalucia. Mainly focussed on Seville. They also rent bikes, offer tapas cooking lessons, flamenco shows, walking tours and many more.
Target group of the organization: Young people who don’t have children yet, but also people around 50/60 where the kids all moved out. Also people who are on honeymoon. (Dutch, English, French, German, American and Spanish people.
Company culture: It’s quite informal. You can wear whatever you want and the collegues are very informal. But you can’t decide a lot for yourself, because the boss need to confirm anything.
Number of employees: 5
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Communication
Brief description of your daily activities: – Writing blogs
– Keeping all our social media canals up to date (Facebook, Google +, Twitter and Instagram)
– Uploading pictures on the website
Brief description of your company assignment: How to attract more people from the USA to our company? How to attract more direct customers? Because right now most of the clients book via our intermediate Baja Bikes. (The company need to give them a commission)
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Rosalie is a good mentor, she just came back from maternity. Since she’s back, everything is going better.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? sociable, independent, creative
Additional company requirements for this placement? writing skills
English: Advanced
Spanish: Basic
French: Basic
German: Basic
Italian: Basic
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? internet (www.ikganaarsevilla.nl)
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? No
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? Yes, Spanish! In the company, everyone speaks English, but all the people on the street ONLY speak Spanish.

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 250
Accommodation (monthly): € 475, but you can get much cheaper
Local transport (monthly): € 0, you can walk or bike
General costs of living (monthly): € 400
Costs of visa: €
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? Nothing.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I’ve been many times to Spain (Andalucia) before. It already felt like home for me.
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? Yes, “mañana, mañana”. In Holland, stress is a factor but right here is everything way more relaxed.

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: 132775@edu.nhtv.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: DO:
– Fix your internship in time. You don’t want the stress.
– Spread your opportunities.

DON’T:
– Don’t expect a luxury internship, especially in Spain. The boss thinks that you’re “only a trainee”, and in Spain they see your more or less like a free employee.

Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Going out, having dinner is one of the many many tapas restaurants, there are a lot of students in the city. Of course, a visit to the cathedral and the Real Alcazar.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link