Gateway to Iceland

Placement organization

Name of organization: Gateway to Iceland
Town/city: Reykjavik
Country: IJsland
Website: http://gatewaytoiceland.is

Student

Name of student: Leanne Koppenaal

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2014-2015

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Touroperator
Organization’s activities: The main activity within the company is the operation of guided tours to the most important tourist attractions in Iceland. The company also supplies tailor-made package trips and a bus shuttle service
Target group of the organization: Mostly travelers from the UK and USA
Company culture: The company is quite small, and divided in the day tour department and the package tours. there is one staff member works on the package tours, putting together tours with hotels upon request. The other staff members work in the day tour department, combining the tasks of this department with their individual tasks, one working on the shuttle service and one on the online marketing.
The owners of the company are involved, one of them acting as a guide on a daily basis, another being in charge of the cars. They are involved in the office though leave most of the decisions to their staff.
The office has a random mix of nationalities, giving it a very international feeling.

Number of employees: 3
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Day tour department.
Brief description of your daily activities: My daily activities include answering e-mails with questions about the tours operated by the organization, answering the phone, and processing booking requests. Occasionally keeping up with the social media connected to the company.
Brief description of your company assignment: The company assignment is to conduct a competitive analysis, to find out which of the many tour companies in Reykjavik are their main competitors, and what the organization can do to differentiate themselves from these companies.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: The supervision within the company was great, there was always someone who could answer my questions. One of the supervisors has done ITMC at the NHTV herself, and it was great having someone around who knows how everything in the program works.
Most of the time there were other people working at the office, but because the company is quite small, and we work in 8 hour shifts, covering office hours between 7:30 and 20:00, I did have to work alone sometimes. This was no problem, as there was always had the option to contact someone in case anything happened, and I was not left alone in the office until I was completely confident about my abilities.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? You need to be stress-proof and flexible. Daily activities are mostly done independently, though it does help to be a team player.
Additional company requirements for this placement? –
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? The company found it for me.
How did you go to work every day? Bus

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? No
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents: You need a Kennitala (ID-number) for staying in Iceland longer than 3 months, you need to arrange this through the company
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? If you are fluent in English, you will not need it. Icelandic is not spoken among office staff.

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € Approximately €400,-
Accommodation (monthly): € Approximately €350,-
Local transport (monthly): € Paid by company
General costs of living (monthly): € Approximately €200,-
Costs of visa: €
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? The company pays for a bus card for travelling within Reykjavik for the full placement period.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I read some online articles on the Icelandic culture and blogs, this has been quite useful, as Iceland turned out to be a bit different from what I thought before I read those articles.
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: leanne.koppenaal@outlook.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: – Take the guided tours with the company, not only did I learn more about the tours we’re selling, but you learn a lot about Iceland and the Icelandic people. But don’t limit yourself to these tours, try seeing some other parts of the country as well.
– Make friends with someone who owns a car, public transportation in Reykjavik itself is not too bad, but it is more difficult and expensive to get out of the city by bus.
– Go snowmobiling!
– Visit the Blue Lagoon, it is expensive but it is something you need to do while in Iceland.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: – Reykjavik has a lot of possibilities, take a walk downtown and discover the possibilities!
– If you’re interested in going skiing/snowboarding you can try the slopes in the blue mountains (Bláfjoll).
– Going to the pool is a very important part of the Icelandic social life, and there are plenty of pools throughout the city.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link