De Palm Tours Aruba

Placement organization

Name of organization: De Palm Tours Aruba
Town/city: Oranjestad
Country: Nederlandse Antillen
Website: http://www.depalmtours.com

Name of student: Lot Hoogeveen

Specialist area: ITTI
Placement period: 2014-2015

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour operator / Destination Management Company
Organization’s activities: Airport transportation, tours and activities, transfers, destination management services.
Target group of the organization: Tourists
Company culture: Kind of informal, however the DMS department has high end corporate clients so this department is more formal than the rest of the company.
Number of employees: 300
Dress code: uniform
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Most of them, however more working hours

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Destination Management Services
Brief description of your daily activities: Back office work; creating flight manifests, creating service supplements, making reservation, doing follow up etc.
Front office work; welcome at airport, dispatch for airport departure, dispatch for tours and activities, host during activities / dinners etc.
Brief description of your company assignment: How can the overall performance get better by means of improving communication.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Supervisor is really good in her job, yet has a super busy schedule.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? independent, stress-proof, representable, very flexible!, take initiative, communicative
Additional company requirements for this placement? Excel
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? I arranged it by myself
How did you go to work every day? I go by car

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? No (if you are Dutch)
Do you need a work permit? Yes, company will help you arrange that
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Company will tell you which documents you need
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? A few weeks
Did you need certain vaccinations? No
How long in advance? Not applicable

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): € 1.000€
Accommodation (monthly): € 600€
Local transport (monthly): € 550€
General costs of living (monthly): € That depends
Costs of visa: € Not applicable
Costs of work permit: € /
What did the company pay for/to you? Financial hourly compensation (not much)

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I had been to Aruba one time before, so I had experienced the culture a little bit already. And I spoke to some people from Aruba that I know and read things on the internet.
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? A little bit, I had to get used to everything and everybody being slow here.

Future students on placement

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

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Be sure of what you do and do not want to do during your placement. This department asks a lot from you, many hours and commitment.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Island and water tours, snorkeling and diving, beach.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link