Caribbean Tourism Organization

Placement organization

Name of organization: Caribbean Tourism Organization
Town/city: New York
Country: United States of America
Website: http://www.onecaibbean.org / www.caribbeantravel.com

Student

Name of student: Laura van Nimwegen

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2012-2013

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tourism board
Organization’s activities: Promoting the Caribbean as a region, representing the 30+ member countries by looking for opportunities to promote and sell their products, by means of events such as Caribbean Week, tradeshows, workshops etc.
Target group of the organization: USA and Canada
Company culture: The atmosphere in the office is friendly and welcoming. There is an open door mentality, meaning you can walk in someone’s office at any time. The dress code is formal, and the there is a more formal attitude during business meetings, which are held frequently.
Number of employees: 9 (excluding myself and other interns)
Dress code: formal
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Marketing department
Brief description of your daily activities: Working on the planning process of Caribbean Week in New York and Toronto such as contacting possible venues, attending meetings with the planning committee; Handling ticket sales for several events in Caribbean Week; Updating databases; Updating the Caribbean Week website; Handling the switch board if necessary; Working on NHTV assignments; etc.
Brief description of your company assignment: My company assignment was assisting in planning, organizing and executing Caribbean Week, CTO’s main event in the first week of June. In addition, I also worked on the planning of Caribbean Week in Toronto.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: My supervisor was the Marketing Officer. He was the one who gave me my tasks and to whom I could turn with questions. There were many times I did tasks for other colleagues who asked for assistance.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Within CTO there are two cultures present, the American and the Caribbean. Add your own culture to that, you need to be able to work in an environment with different cultures. You need to have a flexible attitude. There are times you need to work independently, but you also need to be able to work as part of a team.
Additional company requirements for this placement? Word, Excel, Publisher (they will explain the program if you do not know it), Photoshop (they will explain the program if you do not know it)
English: Advanced
Spanish: could be useful
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane (British Airways)

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? I found a room in an apartment in Queens via the site www.nyhabitat.com, which functions as an agent. You can very easily find available rooms for your period, but you do not have the option to see the room first, you have to do it before you leave. You also have to pay an agency fee.
How did you go to work every day? Subway

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes a J1 visa
Do you need a work permit? Included in visa
How did you arrange the necessary documents: I arranged the necessary documents via Kilroytravel. In total it took me about 6-8 weeks to arrange all the documents and receive the visa. Keep in mind that some documents need to be filled in by the company, before you can actually apply for the visa, which can take some time, depending on the company’s schedule.
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? 6-8 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? n/a

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 800,00 (including fees for extra luggage)
Accommodation (monthly): € USD 815,=
Local transport (monthly): € USD 112,00 (paid by the company)
General costs of living (monthly): € 300,00
Costs of visa: € 1300,00 (required documents and visa itself)
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? Metrocard USD 112,= per month

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? You have to keep in mind that you work within multiple cultures, the American, the Caribbean and your own. That makes it a very interesting place to work, but you also have to think about how to do or say things before you do or say them, you have to be considerate about this.

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: 100716@edu.nhtv.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: There is a formal dress code in the office, sneakers and jeans are definitely not done. Furthermore, if you are not sure about anything, you can always ask anyone within the office.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: New York City has a lot to offer. If you never have been to NYC before, I recommend to buy a travel guide such as Lonely Planet, which has helped me a lot. You can enjoy all the popular sites such as Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park, Times Square, etc. Enjoy life in NYC!

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link