Green Tours n Travel

Placement organization

Name of organization: Green Tours n Travel
Town/city: Paramaribo
Country: Suriname
Website: http://www.greentoursntravel.com

Student

Name of student: Milou Kerkvliet

Specialist area: ITTI
Placement period: 2012-2013

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour operator
Organization’s activities: Organizing tours troughout entire Suriname
Target group of the organization: (Mainly Dutch) tourists (18-55 years) and interns in Paramaribo (18-24 years)
Company culture: Communication with colleagues is very informal, sometimes even via Facebook chat. You are often the only one at the office so
Number of employees: 3 in the office, about 20 freelance guides/cooks/drivers, etc
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Sales office
Brief description of your daily activities: Replying email
Answering phone calls
Updating website with departing tours/updated prices
Selling tours/helping guest that come in the office
Making bookings/reservations at other offices and confirming bookings and reservations

Brief description of your company assignment: Write a marketing plan
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: You are often alone at the office, but you can always call when you have questions or something like that. Supervision is ok

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Sociable, independent, flexible
Additional company requirements for this placement? Outlook, Internet explorer, editing website with WordPress CMS
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages: Dutch should be excellent

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Myself via internet www.studentenkamersparamaribo.nl about 20 mins cycling from the office
How did you go to work every day? bicycle

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Arranging documents took about 2 months, you have to request your visa 3 months before arrival in Suriname
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents?
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes

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? n/a

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 900,00
Accommodation (monthly): € 250,00
Local transport (monthly): € 20,00
General costs of living (monthly): € 200,00
How long in advance did you apply for visa 1 month, I had most of them already
Costs of visa: € €160 (visa itself) + ca 150 (additional costs: birth certificate and other documents, apostilles, you need to hand in ± 5 passphotos
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? often lunch, but not always

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I did not
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? Business in Suriname is less punctual than in Paramaribo, it is easy to take over the ‘no spang’ mentality.

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: milou_kerkvliet@hotmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Don’t go out alone by night
Traffic is chaotic in Paramaribo
Don’t expect efficiency, everything takes minimum 3 times longer here than in Holland

Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Going out: Havana, Touche, Zsa Zsa Zsu
Beach/relax: Colakreek, White Beach
Swimming pool: hotels and guesthouses in Paramaribo e.g. Krasnapolsky, Residence Inn, Zin

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link