Caribbean Tourism Organization

Placement organization

Name of organization: Caribbean Tourism Organization
Town/city: New York City
Country: United States of America
Website: http://www.onecaribbean.org/

Name of student: Nadine Dietrich

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2014-2015

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tourism Development Agency
Organization’s activities: With 30 member countries from the Caribbean, the CTO organization provides specialized support and technical assistance in sustainable tourism development,marketing, communications,
advocacy,human resource and development, event planning & execution and research & information technology.
Their goal is to position the Caribbean as the most desirable all year warm weather destination by 2017.
Target group of the organization: American and Canadian target market
Company culture: While the atmosphere is definitely friendly and casual, the work ethic and dress code is still formal. All staff members are interested in your opinions and ideas, which reflects on the work environment. Everyone helps out in any department if needed.
During the business meetings which are held apprx. every 2 weeks, the staff is more reserved and more formal than usual. Be nice, open, and sociable and everything will be fine during your placement.
Number of employees: 7 (excluding myself and temporary staff)
Dress code: formal
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? I was operating as assistant for the project administrator. (basically doing event planning)
Brief description of your daily activities: – Updating CTO databases

– Engage in social media campaigns to connect with potential participants in CTO events including Caribbean Week, Webinars, Travel Shows and Conferences.

– Working on the planning process of Caribbean Week in New York (answering emails, calling, researching)

– Handling the switch board if necessary

– Working on NHTV assignments;
Brief description of your company assignment: My main company assignment was to organize the STUDENT COLLOQUIUM during Caribbean Week, which is a student competition engaging in a sustainable tourism product development within the Caribbean

My tasks were to:
– invite schools to participate
– sponsorship solicitation
– appointing a jury
– inviting the motivational speaker, master of ceremony and wrap up speaker

Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: My supervisor was Ronald Allen -the project administrator-

Even though he never had to organize the Student Colloquium before he gave me all kinds of relevant tasks and was always there to help, advise and make sure everything was going smoothly.
Everyone is the office is very supportive and helpful if you have any questions.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? sociable, computer work, being a teamplayer yet not afraid to work independently
Additional company requirements for this placement? English writing Skills, Excel
English: Advanced
Spanish: Basic
French: Basic
German: Basic
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Through Airbnb
How did you go to work every day? via public transport (subway)

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes J1 Visa
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents: working together with the GACCCA and Embassy
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? 3 months
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes
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? Only if your level of Business English is not adequat

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 800
Accommodation (monthly): € 900
Local transport (monthly): € 0
General costs of living (monthly): € 900
Costs of visa: € 1200
Costs of work permit: € 0
What did the company pay for/to you? The company provides you a subway card, which cost $112 dollar.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
Not at all.
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? The international environment within the office is a great experience, yet keep in mind that the Caribbean culture is rather extroverted than the European one, Don’t be intimidated, everyone is friendly and welcoming.

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: nm.dietrich@hotmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Don’t wear sneakers, flipflop, jeans and shirts to work. Other than that try to engage with the staff right from the start, so you will be integrated in their family work environment quickly.

Don’t forget to enjoy your staff!
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Within the area of the placement you will find battery park, which is great for lunch with the view of the statue liberty. Wall street is just around the corner,

For the rest you have to travel through New York, not only Manhattan, but explore beautiful Brooklyn (especially Williamsburg and Prospect Lefferts Garden)

Typical tourist attractions:
Times Square
Rockefeller Center
Empire
The Highline
Broadway and so much more

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link