Aruba Tourism Authority

Placement organization

Name of organization: Aruba Tourism Authority
Town/city: Oranjestad
Country: Centraal Amerika & Caribbean
Website: http://www.aruba.com

Name of student: Gregory Flanegin

Specialist area: ITTI
Placement period: 2014-2015

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Destination Marketing and Management Organization
Organization’s activities: The Aruba Tourism Authority (A.T.A.) is responsible for uniting tourism interests amongst the on- and off-island stakeholders/partners for the purpose of coordinating destination marketing, destination development and destination partnerships.
Target group of the organization: Primarily American Tourists
Company culture: The following structure has been put in place according to the State Ordinance – “Landsverordering Instelling A.T.A Sui Generis (DWJZ10-105/106)”.
• Tourism policies and targets set by the Government are the framework for decisions and goals of the A.T.A.
• The Budgets and Annual Statements are presented to the Minister for approval
• Prior to approval, the Minister must make these available for viewing and commenting by Parliament for a period of 10 working days.
• A.T.A has a Supervisory Board consisting of seven members who are experts in business operations and tourism:
o Three members are appointed upon recommendation of the Minister of Tourism;
o Three members are appointed by the Minister upon recommendation from the Aruba Hotel and Tourism Association (AHA.T.A) (two candidates are nominated for each of the AHA.T.A seats);
o The chairman is appointed by the Minister based upon the recommendation of two candidates brought forwarded by the six aforementioned members.
• The CEO of A.T.A is appointed by the Supervisory Board.
• The Supervisory Board is and management meets every month, and if necessary more meetings are scheduled accordingly. Supervisory Board only meetings also take place on a periodic basis.
• The Minister of Tourism, the Supervisory Board and management meet regularly.

The Supervisory Board is in place, primarily, to ensure that the organization functions within the legal framework set out in the state Ordinance and that the core tasks and responsibilities are met. Additional roles of the Board is to make sure that the strategic business plan and resulting plans of action and budgets are aimed towards the realization of the tourism policy defined by the Minister of Tourism. The board also monitors the performance of the CEO and ensuring that the internal control and risk management systems of the institution are effective. When necessary, the Supervisory Board also has the task of advising management on their actions

Departments: Marketing, Fiinance, Strategy, Research and Planning (which DSU falls under)

The A.T.A has three International Marketing Offices located in New Jersey, U.S.A; Caracas, Venezuela and The Hague, Netherlands. These international offices fall under the CMO in the hierarchal chart. The information used for the organizational structure was last updated in May 2014 and will be again updated when current vacant positions are filled.
Number of employees: 51
Dress code: formal
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? To some extend

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Destination Services Unit (DSU)
Brief description of your daily activities: One of A.T.A’s key priorities for this year is to increase Daily Tourist Spending, and one of the approaches it is taking towards this is goal is to increase the quality of Aruba’s tourism product. The focus of my assignments will be coupled to these objectives and will entail the development of a cultural product, consisting of research for a new signage system for the island and analysis of an information distribution project called “Happy Liaison Officers (HLO) (mobile island concierges). Furthermore I will be researching themes for a Beach and Marine-environment awareness campaign referred internally as ‘Year of the Beach’.

My daily activities will revolve around assignments mentioned above. Based on priority and involvement of third parties I will be shifting from one project to another. However, analyzing 6 monthly HLO reports, which, at the moment covers a 10 week period, will be a key daily activity, as this will be crucial to the Signage project. Another daily task will be desk research, mainly on developing a theme and concept for the Year of the Beach project. For this I have been giving complete creative freedom to develop a theme based on what competitors are doing, and what is applicable to the island’s marine environment needs.
Brief description of your company assignment: Development of a Cultural Product
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: The organization deals with a high demanding market, as a result supervision and daily work can be described as chaotic. priorities shifts constantly. Yet general functions work effeciently

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? good time management skills, ability to work on multiple assignments and shift from one to another effectively. felxible, stress-proof, ability to work independently.
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS Office, writing skills (American English) and specialty programs (relevant to the department placed)
English: Advanced
Spanish: Intermediate
French:
German: Basic
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? myself (local staying with family)
How did you go to work every day? car

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? no
Do you need a work permit? no
How did you arrange the necessary documents: not applicable to me
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? not applicable to me
Did you need certain vaccinations? No
How long in advance? no vaccinations needed

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? A Spanish course might come in helpful but not necessary

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € between 700 and 1100 euros
Accommodation (monthly): € between 300 and 500 euros
Local transport (monthly): € circa 50 euros
General costs of living (monthly): € circa 500 euros (living as a student/intern)
Costs of visa: € not applicable
Costs of work permit: € not applciable
What did the company pay for/to you? Financial compensation 880 Aruban Guilders (about 400euros) for third year students 1000 Aruba guilders (about 500 euros) for graduating students

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
American Influence is high in terms of business, nightlife. locals are welcoming and warm, family, beach-life, and holidays are important (all in a general setting, exceptions are at play).
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? yes, but in a “local back home” kind of way

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: gregory.flanegin@yahoo.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Cooperation amongst tourism organizations are high, get involved in activities, create a network, even if temporary, it will support your research greatly in terms of information. (on-line information is limited).

Timeliness is not of utmost importance but do not abuse of this, 4 to 10 minutes late to appointments, meetings, interviews etc is acceptable.

Traffic is congested (too congested for a small island) take this in considerations when commuting.

Currency is guilders (florins), US dollar is accepted island wide, euros is not.

There is no forma’ word for “you” in the papiamento language so name of person is used to show respect. (feels unnatural but remember this when addressing your superiors.

when dining out, tipping is expected.

work meetings tend to have a casual feel. people tent to speak out of turn but remember you are an intern. The use of mobile phones during meetings are common (at east at the A.T.A.)
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: The capital city is currently in a development stage, meaning that nightlife and leisure is limited. Palm Beach area is most alive in terms of activities, nightlife, dining, leisure, water sports, beaches, etc. North side of island is for surfing, hiking, nature, off-road activities. East point of island is melting pot. lots of sub cultures (mostly Caribbean)

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link