Absolute Groups & Incentives

Placement organization

Name of organization: Absolute Groups & Incentives
Town/city: El Arenal
Country: Spanje
Website: http://www.a-incentives.com/uk/

Name of student: Danielle Heynen

Specialist area: ITTI
Placement period: 2013-2014

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: DMC
Organization’s activities: Absolute groups & incentives is a classical DMC with official licences (BAL Nº544) based in Mallorca. We organize incentives, meetings & congresses in Mallorca, Ibiza and Alicante. We can also recommend good partner agencies in Barcelona, Valencia & Andalusia.
Target group of the organization: German and Dutch Groups & Incentives
Company culture: Informal, no feeling of hierarchy, the boss is in the same office and is very approachable.
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? No specific department
Brief description of your daily activities: Making offers in powerpoints and cost sheets in excel, customer and supplier contact, facturation and calculation, invoicing
Brief description of your company assignment: I did a competitor analysis which was a follow-up on a previous interns work. Furthermore I did research into possible alternatives in the off-season, and the impact of seasonality.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: The supervision by the organization is great and you get 1 day a week to work on your assignments which is very unique, and very usefull. I do recommend to speak to the supervisor about high season at Absolute, as it is sometimes not possible to do a schoolday if there are many groups on the Island. I had done my work in the months February, March and beginning of April, as midway April and June are high season for Absolute.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent, Stress-proof, Sociable
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS Office is very important!
English: Advanced
Spanish: Advanced
French: Basic
German: Intermediate
Italian: Basic
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? through company
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: –
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? Yes
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? Yes, the Spanish class of NHTV is sufficient

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € €200
Accommodation (monthly): € €300
Local transport (monthly): € €10
General costs of living (monthly): € €100-€150
Costs of visa: € –
Costs of work permit: € –
What did the company pay for/to you? Financial compensation of €200 per month

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
As there are many Dutch and German tourists in Arenal, the Spanish culture is not alway apparant, the company has a mainly German-Dutch culture so there is not much adaptation needed.
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: Danielleheynen@live.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Do not do a competitor analysis as it is difficult to find sufficient information for an in-depth assignment.
Find an accomodation through Absolute, they have some trustworthy adresses. I found one myself but it turned out to have a weed plantage inside, therefore I had to move during my first week.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: El Arenal – Party destination of Mallorca, need I say more? There are a lot of nice bars, the beach is at walking distance..
Palma is also easy to reach which is a great city.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link