Caribbean Tourism Organization

Placement organization

Name of organization: Caribbean Tourism Organization
Town/city: Warrens
Country: Barbados
Website: http://www.onecaribbean.org/

Student

Name of student: Dawid Bouter

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2014-2015

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Regional Tourism Organization
Organization’s activities: The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) is an international organization that works to develop tourism to the Caribbean. The company attempts to do this in a sustainable manner, so that the Caribbean people will profit from it socially and economically. On a daily basis, CTO focuses on providing information and services to its partners.
Besides the headquarters in Barbados, CTO has offices in New York and in London. Overall, the Caribbean Tourism Organization is a large organization with different departments working towards the same goal. Examples of these separate departments are: Human Resource Management; Finance and Resource Management; Research and Information Technology.
Target group of the organization: Caribbean Islands (member countries), Target Markets (US, Canada and UK)
Company culture: The company culture is a mixture of formal and informal communications. there are formal moments such as staff meetings. But there are informal moments too, for example conversations between colleagues Email are formal within the company.when you are having a conversation with a colleague this is most of the time informal. Conversations with my supervisor for example are more formal.
Number of employees: 25
Dress code: formal
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? am working in the Research and Information Technology department
Brief description of your daily activities: Since i was handed a specific project, my daily activities mostly consisted of actually doing this project.
Which means:
-Making appointments with organizations discussing my project.
– Interviews with experts/organizations involved with beach protection.
– Interviews with hotels and other tourism businesses
– Desk research regarding beach erosion/coral reef erosion.
– Making and handing out questionnaires.
– Observation of beaches.
Brief description of your company assignment: My assignment is researching beach erosion and it’s effect on tourism businesses.

This is done in the form of questionnaires, interviews with locals and experts and observation. Moreover desk-research is required to gain insight on this subject. Lastly surveys are conducted to gain the opinion of locals and tourists.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Since i was working alone on this project, i scheduled meetings every other week to discuss my progress with my supervisor.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? independent, teamplayer, sociable, adapt to the culture, representable
Additional company requirements for this placement? Office, SPSS, Excel.
English: Intermediate
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Bus

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Through work, Cariblist is a good website to find something as well.
How did you go to work every day? Public transport

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? No
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? No

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € Depends on date: around 400-800 for a return ticket
Accommodation (monthly): € around 300.
Local transport (monthly): € 80-100
General costs of living (monthly): € 400-450
Costs of visa: € 0
Costs of work permit: € 0
What did the company pay for/to you? No compensation

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
Read up on the Caribbean lifestyle.
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? positively, people are very kind and relaxed!

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: d-bouter@Live.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Visit the east coast, which is much less crowded then the west.
Go to a boat party, they are great as well!

Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Depends on what you want: Lot’s of restaurants and Bars, no real other attractions.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link