Gondwana DMC’s Brussels

Placement organization

Name of organization: Gondwana DMC’s Brussels
Town/city: Brussels
Country: België
Website: http://www.gondwana-dmcs.net

Name of student: KayKaren Acquaah

Specialist area: ITTI
Placement period: 2015-2016

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: touroperator
Organization’s activities: organizes tailor made trips to Asia, Latin America, Africa and India
Target group of the organization: FIT, MICE, GROUP TRAVELERS or SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS
Company culture: They are rather informal. Normally working at from home and communicating through emails.
Number of employees: 6
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? NO

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Marketing department
Brief description of your daily activities: * Assisting with preparation and execution of the itinerary building to Mozambique
* Online market research, survey and analysis
* Assisting with organisational functions at the office including activities for optimal exposure
* contributing to the development of the inspiration Africa website
* Brainstorming on other creative plans for the itinerary implementation
* representing the destinations on social media (Facebook, linked in, Googleplus, youtube etc.)
* Clients contact via emails
* Filing

Brief description of your company assignment: I have to help the company to build up a tourism offer on the destination Mozambique, to add to the current destinations that includes Botswana and Zimbabwe on their new travel website; Inspiration Africa
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: well the supervision was okay considering my level of education now. I would have liked more guidance and assistance from them but overall it was okay.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent, Flexible, Performable
Additional company requirements for this placement? writing skills, Photoshop,
English: Advanced
Spanish: Intermediate
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: train

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? myself
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? 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): € 50
Accommodation (monthly): € 330
Local transport (monthly): € 50
General costs of living (monthly): € 550
Costs of visa: €
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? 300 euros towards Accommodation, but do well to remind him to pay you because he always forgets and the only time to receive the money back would be like two months later.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
i did a destination analysis before moving to the country so i knew what to expect from the Inhabitants.
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: kaykaren5@gmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: I recommend that you always try as much as possible to work accurately and in case your writing skills is not good enough, please learn to improve it before you choose this company because more times you would be writing or planning itineraries.

Also try not to misuse your expenses thinking you would receive your 300 euros allowance at the end of the month because normally he forgets to pay you at the end of the month and the only time to get your money would be the end of the next month.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: the main city center is not far from the office. There is always a lot to do in Brussels.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link