Barrio Life

Placement organization

Name of organization: Barrio Life
Town/city: Barcelona
Country: Spanje
Website: https://barrio-life.nl/

Student

Name of student: Maaike Rosdorf

Specialist area: ITTI
Placement period: 2017-2018

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour Operator
Organization’s activities: Selling unique and tailor made trips to Andalusia, Portugal, Morocco and the Sahara desert. Their goal is to travel as ‘local’ as possible and avoid mass tourism.
Target group of the organization: 40+
Company culture: Barrio Life is owned by four managers who each carry out a different task within the company. It has two offices, one in Amsterdam and one in Barcelona. Apart from the managers, currently there are 5 interns, 3 in Barcelona and 2 in Amsterdam. The company is very informal and will make you feel part of a family. They are very welcoming and are open for new ideas, inspiration and creativity!
It is a very young company with a young team.
Number of employees: <10
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working?

Marketing

Brief description of your daily activities: -Internal marketing activities to make and keep the customer happy
-External marketing activities to create brand awareness
– maintain the facebook and instagram page of Barrio Life
– develop a new and creative social media plan
– Website optimalization
– Assisting in reservations, but not often.
Brief description of your company assignment: I have to do the ”Portal Project”. This means I have to do a research towards reviewpages, bloggers, influencers etcetera to increase our brand awareness. This also includes SEO. I have to write a marketing plan for the internet in order to optimize our position on it.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: The supervision is really good. The managers are really interested in what you are doing and will also have a week once every two weeks to see everybody’s progress. If you want to discuss something you can always go to them.
They are also very direct and will tell you if they are satisfied with your work or not.
If you have any problems, also with other problems than related to your internship.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Flexible, Sociable, Independent, Stress-proof, representable, creative
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS office, writing skills, WordPress, SEO
English: Intermediate
Spanish: Basic
French: Basic
German: Basic
Italian: Basic
Other languages: Dutch: mother tongue as the company, website and clients are Dutch

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: bus, metro, bike, walking, car, train

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Internet
How did you go to work every day? by foot

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? No
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents: n.v.t.
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? n.v.t.
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? If you are Dutch, no!

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 80
Accommodation (monthly): € 580
Local transport (monthly): € 40
General costs of living (monthly): € 300
Costs of visa: € 0
Costs of work permit: € 0
What did the company pay for/to you? A payment of 300 euros per month and a team lunch every once in a while.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I chose Spanish as a course during my studies but furthermore I did not prepare 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: maaikerosdorf@hotmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Do not pay your room rent, deposit or whatsoever in cash and be aware of scammers.
I was living very close to the placement but if you are not you can buy a public transport card for a couple of months in a row for 100 euros. This is the cheapest option.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: I think that everybody knows what an amazing city Barcelona is! There is so much to do and to see

– Bunkers del Carmel is a huge recommendation!
– The beach
– District of El Born for cute boutiques and small photogenic streets
– Rooftops
– Clubs: BLVD (La Rambla), Oak, Wolff and Razzmattaz
– Food: Alsur Cafe, Brunch and Cake, Bacoa

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link