Tourbox

Placement organization

Name of organization: Tourbox
Town/city: Paramaribo
Country: Suriname
Website: http://www.tourboxsuriname.nl/

Name of student: Maaike Figge

Specialist area: TM
Placement period: 2013-2014

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Touroperator
Organization’s activities: The main purpose of the company was to sell the tours
Target group of the organization: Students and 50 plus
Company culture: Etto Paulus is the boss of the company, they comes Frank biersterker. He was the general manager of the company and then comes the trainee
Number of employees: 4
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? There where no departments. Tourbox is a very small company. I did everything
Brief description of your daily activities: My day began with starting everthing up. I would check the list of the departing tours and corrct any changes. I would anwers the phone and e-mail, I translatted descriptions from Dutch to English and sell tours
Brief description of your company assignment: I had to do a market research. They wanted to know how to get more sales
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Frank Biersteker help me a lot during my traineeship. If I had a question I always could go to him. I haven’t seen my boss a lot because he was gone for most of my time in Suriname.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? All of the above
Additional company requirements for this placement? writing skills and MS office
English: Intermediate
Spanish: Basic
French: Basic
German: Intermediate
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: airplane and car

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? on my own
How did you go to work every day? bicycle

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? a tourist visa
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Schiphol airport
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? one day. You can buy a tourist visum on Schiphol airport
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes
How long in advance? Didn’t need vaccinations

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? Spanish

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 850
Accommodation (monthly): € 300
Local transport (monthly): € 20
General costs of living (monthly): € 50
Costs of visa: € 20
Costs of work permit: € –
What did the company pay for/to you? Transport and they gave me a financial compensation

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I bought a book at the ANWB about Suriname.
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: maaikefigge_1990@hotmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Do not go alone at night, because it is not safe then.
Get a relaible taxi company.
Do not bring along a lot of cash when you go out
Always be on guard

Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: There is a lot of sightseeing in and around Paramaribo. For example Fort Zeelandia, The rum museum, the city centre, the plantions on the other side of the river, you can see dolphins and a lot more.
The city has three big culbs. Havanna, Zsa Zsa Zu and Touche. Many students go to these cubs to have a good time.
There are also many restaurants in and around Paramaribo and two great supermarkets. The Tulip and the choice

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link