NOTA BENE events

Placement organization

Name of organization: NOTA BENE events
Town/city: Rome
Country: Italië
Website: http://www.notabene-events.com

Student

Name of student: Shanne Mast

Specialist area: Tourism Management (EN)
Placement period: 2019-2020

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Destination managment company
Organization’s activities: NOTA BENE events is a destination management company, who is mainly working within the MICE business. They are responsible for the planning, organization and execution of a trip.
Target group of the organization: Travel agencies, mainly group travel
Company culture: There is an informal culture within the company, the team is international and they are all very kind and friendly.
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?
Operations department

Brief description of your daily activities:
– The making of tailor-made proposals and itineraries.
– Daily communication with suppliers via email and phone.
– Customer service.
– Assistance in the making of new experiences.
– Improving the operations department.

Brief description of your company assignment: Competition analysis in order to see how NOTA BENE can improve its market position.

Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: In the beginning, you have a lot of supervision, but you will start to work more independent every week and have your own tasks and assignments. My supervisor and other colleagues were always available in the office if help was needed. My supervisor and the other colleagues worked in the same office as me, which was easy, whenever I had questions regarding my tasks or assignments. Everyone is very kind and friendly, they offer you help whenever needed and help to improve yourself within the tourism business.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent, social, flexible, punctual, stress-proof, team player
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS office and writing skills
English: Advanced

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Via Spotahome
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, but it was necessary for me to apply for a ‘codise fiscale’ for my room.
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Embassy of Italy in The Hague
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? 4 weeks
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? It might be useful, since not all Italians speak English.

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 200
Accommodation (monthly): € 650
Local transport (monthly): € 35
General costs of living (monthly): € 150
What did the company pay for/to you? Local transportation

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I had visited Italy multiple times before, so I did not really prepare for the country’s culture as I was aware of it. Italy can be quite unstructured and you have to adjust to this sometimes. Apart from this, the country’s culture is not really different from other European cities.
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: 172695@buas.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Make sure that you have the required documents ready in time, if you need any.
Besides this, it is important that you start searching for a room in time, as it can be quite hard to find something, which is to your liking.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Rome is a very nice city to fulfill your internship. There are many activities inside and outside Rome, which you can experience during the weekend. Explore the local streets in Rome, have a nice drink or dinner and enjoy your time outside the office! Next to the sightseeing in Rome, you can easily visit other Italian cities easily by train as well.

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