Unique Retreats

Placement organization

Name of organization: Unique Retreats
Town/city: Barcelona
Country: Spanje
Website: https://www.uniqueretreats.com/

Student

Name of student: Ivana Koycheva

Specialist area: Tourism Management (EN)
Placement period: 2018-2019

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Property management
Organization’s activities: Unique Retreats, part of Aptenex Group, is a rental property management and marketing platform which represents luxury villas owners and managers and provides sales & marketing services to generate value and more bookings. Specialized in marketing and sales, the company is a B2B brand. The main focus of
the company is Thailand, more specifically the two most popular islands Koh Samui and Phuket. Unique Retreats has a great selection of properties in its portfolio and has exclusive rights on their management and online presence. The company is partnering with villa managers, many agencies and local companies
which together aim to create unforgettable experiences for all guests.

Overall the company’s main activities are:
● Property Branding
● Marketing Collateral
● Social Media Management
● Management System and Channel Manager
● Online Distribution
● Communication
● Marketing and Sales Development
Target group of the organization: Luxury
Company culture: Flat organisational culture
Number of employees: 20
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working?

Business development in Maketing&Sales.

Brief description of your daily activities:
– Daily communication with agents, partners and channels
– Continuous research for new booking partners and set up of agency agreement
· Planning, preparing and delivering regular email newsletter in multiple languages (EN, CN, RU) on a weekly basis
– Update management systems and other extranet with information as relevant
– Quality checks of UR properties
– Monthly reports
– Monthly Occupancy reports
– Calculating promotions
– Editing rates
– Plan, prepare and deliver regular blog articles for some clients and or the company
– Coordinate with the membership team about the release of special offers, new properties
– Launching new properties – listing them on multiple platforms
– Creating factsheets of the properties including all the relevant information and rates
· Contribute to update our social media and marketing strategy to expand the online visibility of the brand and membership (management of such strategy will be dealt with separately)
– Creating brochures
– Answering emails
– Managing bookings

Brief description of your company assignment: My company assignment was related to another project that just started up when I arrived. It was about the creation of a destination management platform for a luxury resort in Southern Spain.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: The job is very independent. I had to manage and organise daily tasks by myself and once a week I had a meeting with my boss discussing what has been done, what has to be done, if there any problems that have occurred, etc. However, even when he is not in the office we always keep in touch texting in case I have any questions or doubts.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Very independent, able to work under stress and very important to be able to find solutions and alternatives on their own.
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS Office, writing skills, etc. The company has its own systems which learn once you start working there. You don’t need to speak Spanish but it’s nice if you have some basic knowledge and want to practice with the other people in the coworking space.
English: Advanced
Spanish: Basic

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Facebook
How did you go to work every day? walking

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, only in case your English level is not advanced.

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 200
Accommodation (monthly): € 400
Local transport (monthly): € 30-40
General costs of living (monthly): € 400
Costs of visa: €
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? Financial compensation.
Once a month there is a free brunch organised in the coworking space and everyone can join.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I didn’t.
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: ivana_koycheva32@abv.bg

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do:
DO: Be on time. Be brave to take risks and to challenge yourself. We work in a coworking space so there are many people working individually or for another company so be friendly to everyone.

DON’T: Do not ever lie or hide something. Trust is very much valued in the company. The position is very independent so it is completely normal to make mistakes, just be honest and say it because it is easier to find a solution.

Important: Be careful while finding accommodation, there are many crazy landlords. I would advise you to first check the Erasmus Facebook groups for recommendations and if you have the chance to visit the room before renting it.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Barcelona is a big city where you can’t be bored. There are many bars, restaurants, clubs, beaches, parks, gyms, all kinds of events – so there is something for everyone. Closeby is mountain Montserrat and beautiful beaches of Costa Brava.

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